<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Black Tux Gang by ChipAndDealer</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23203828">The Black Tux Gang</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChipAndDealer/pseuds/ChipAndDealer'>ChipAndDealer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Danny Phantom, Miraculous Ladybug, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Teen Titans (Animated Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Makes Puns, Batdad, Chat Noir Being Chat Noir, Dick Grayson is Robin, Gen, Good old canon-typical violence, Group chat, Irondad, Multiple Crossovers, Robin uses those detective skills, Why did I pick the five characters who talk the most in a fight?, but i made it anyway, no one asked for this, oh god the puns</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:16:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>28,721</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23203828</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChipAndDealer/pseuds/ChipAndDealer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Robin: I gave each of you a note because I suspect you are the civilian identities of Danny Phantom, Chat Noir, and Spiderman. Am I wrong?</p><p>Ghostboy: Why is it every time i leave town someone figures out my secret identity?</p><p>Peter B: maybe its a sign</p><p>Peter B: wait is this all people at that party?</p><p>Peter B: spy.jpeg</p><p>Peter B: it could be any one of us</p><p>Ghostboy: Well youre spiderman</p><p>Ghostboy: You put your real name as your username</p><p>Lucky: Also, you walked in with Iron Man, which was kind of a giveaway.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir &amp; Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Danny Fenton &amp; Vlad Masters, Dick Grayson &amp; Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>263</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1351</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Four-In-Hand</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Now, you may have clicked into this story and are currently wondering something like, 'Huh?' or, 'Why?' or maybe even, 'Don't you have other stories you should be writing?' and while these are all valid questions, I don't really have any valid answers. This idea came to my head and beat me senseless until I wrote it, so here you go.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the must-attend event of the year, if you happened to be a billionaire. Champagne flowed, singers crowed, and Daniel Fenton argued with his archenemy outside the front door.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"This is the favor?" He gestured emphatically with one arm at the golden doorway, already incredibly gaudy before they'd even stepped inside. "I thought it would be something like robbing a bank or kidnapping someone."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Vlad Masters touched a hand to his chin, considering. "Would you have done that? It seems like a wasted opportunity now."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"No." Danny crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "No stealing. No kidnapping."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Then what are you worried about?" Vlad circled him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder before he could blink. "You get to attend the most prestigious party of the year, I get to show you off to a few friends, your debt is paid, we both go home happy."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You're not telling anyone about my ghost powers," Danny warned and Vlad could only roll his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Don't insult my intelligence, Daniel. I intend to use you as a puppet for my own ends purely in a human capacity today." He said, bluntly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Why do you even want to show me off, then?" Vlad was always up to something, he knew that, but dressing him up in a suit and taking him to a fancy party seemed fairly benign, at least for him. For a favor in exchange for letting Danny use Vlad's ghost portal in an emergency, he got off remarkably scot free.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"While I would absolutely love to explain each of my intricate and constantly spinning plans in minute detail to you, our arrival is rapidly moving from fashionably late to unfashionably late. Shall we?" He gestured to the door, impatiently.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Alright I'll do it," Danny agreed, reluctantly, tugging at his bow-tie. "But if this is some kind of trick to get me away from the Fenton Portal-"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I don't need tricks to get you away from the Fenton Portal, Daniel," Vlad huffed. "I just need to throw a bone and your idiot father will drag the entire family after it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Danny rolled his eyes, heading toward the door where two of the biggest bouncers he'd ever seen stood.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Vlad Masters, this is my nephew." He told the guards and Danny gave him a skeptical eyebrow raise Vlad could only shrug at.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Nephew?" Danny asked when they got inside.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You would prefer I refer to you as the progeny of my one true love? Or perhaps as my archenemy?" He queried back as they stepped into the elevators, also colored a solid gold.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Point," Danny acknowledged. "I still don't get why you're going through all this just to get me into some fancy party."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I suppose you could consider yourself something like my ticket in," he answered with a mischievous grin. Before Danny could ask what he meant, the elevator doors opened to reveal an enormous party.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It took up the entire floor, rock climbing against one wall, a private DJ against another, food lined up on countless tables end to end, a robe course above the room, and a big gold banner hanging up with the words 'Happy Birthday Adrien' in elegant black cursive.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"This is a birthday party?" Danny cried, incredulously.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Vlad rubbed his hands together, still smiling. "A birthday party containing some of the richest and most influential inventors, businessmen, and designers the world has to offer. Ten figure minimum annual income, by personal invitation only, and must bring a suitably aged child."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And there was the other shoe Danny was waiting to drop. Still not as bad as he was expecting. Vlad got to rub elbows with other rich people for a bit, Danny paid back the favor, and that rock wall was already calling his name. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Come. We must greet the host first." Vlad expertly wheeled Danny past groups of mingling people, both teenagers like him, and adults, right up to a blonde man with pale pink glasses dressed in an elegant white suit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The man looked at Vlad, then his eyes dipped to Danny, expression never changing. Danny shivered. He hadn't even said a word, but it was clear this man was different than Vlad, cold in a way he couldn't manage. "Vlad Masters," he said, like he was carefully tasting the name before deciding whether or not to spit it out or drink it. "I wasn't sure you'd make it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Vlad assured him, before turning to Danny. "Gabriel Agreste, this is my nephew, Daniel. He plans to put me out of business one day."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Isn't that the dream?" He asked, rhetorically, turning his gaze fully on Danny. "Try to find my son, if you can; perhaps some of that ambition will rub off on him."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"How is Adrien, by the by?" Vlad asked, and Gabriel waved his hand like he dismissed the very question.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"He is an exemplary student and the leading model in his category. I would accept nothing less," he said, idly, then looked up toward the elevator for a moment. "Please, enjoy the party," he said, and Vlad took the tacit dismissal as Gabriel stood to greet other guests.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Now, I have important business to attend to, so go... play, or whatever it is you do, and do not embarrass me." With this explicit dismissal, Vlad also walked away, leaving Danny in the middle of the extravagant party without a clue what to do next.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With a shrug, he made his way toward the rock wall. "Since I'm already here..." he mused aloud.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>|\&gt;&lt;/|</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>The golden elevator began it's steady ascent, its two occupants tucked safely inside. One, a thick built businessman, the other a gangly teen, both in black suits, but the teen with a flare of red in his tie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As soon as the elevator doors closed, Bruce Wayne relaxed, confident that Gabriel Agreste wasn't the type to bug his own buildings. Of course, he scanned the place beforehand just in case. "How are the Titans?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"They're getting stronger by the day," Dick Grayson answered. "I just wish our enemies weren't, too."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"If you continue honing your body, you can keep up with them," Bruce said, impassively. "But sharpening your mind is the only path forward."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dick nodded, but made no other answer. After a moment, he changed the subject. "It's been a while since I've gone out without the mask." He reached a hand up to touch the skin around his eyes. "I almost feel naked without it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You get used to it," Bruce assured him, before a troubled crease marred his brow. "That is something I wanted to talk to you about, though. This party isn't entirely business."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dick raised an eyebrow. "Are you meeting someone?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"No." Bruce smiled, an expression Dick still found a little strange on his face even when it wasn't covered in a cowl. "But you are."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dick did a double-take. "What? Who am I supposed to be meeting?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'm glad the Titans are working out. I'm especially glad that you're all friends as well as teammates. Take it from me, that's not an easy thing to juggle, but at the same time, you're neglecting something." It wasn't judgemental, but Dick bristled anyway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I've been training my mind as well as my body. I've been fighting crime and strengthening the bond with my teammates. What have I been neglecting?" He ruffled a hand through his hair, mussing the gel in frustration.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You wear a mask, Robin, which means sometimes you can take it off." Bruce laid a hand on Dick's shoulder. "Enjoy it. It's not a luxury all your friends have."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You want me to make civilian friends?" He asked, carefully.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I don't think your team would mind if you had a little more support to fall back on. I know I wouldn't." Bruce let his hand fall to his side once again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dick scratched the back of his head, frowning. "But, civilians..."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Many of the people in there your age come from very strict families with the money and influence to give their punishments weight. I won't force you to make friends, but do you really think in a room of kids weighed down by responsibilities and discipline most adults lack, you won't find anyone to relate to?" The elevator doors opened. "Think on it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dick walked out with Bruce into the party, guests splitting to let them pass on their path to Gabriel Agreste.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Bruce Wayne, Richard Grayson, I'm glad you could make it," he greeted, none of the energy in his words reaching his voice. "Perhaps it is uncouth to ask, but do you know if Batman received my message?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I made sure it got to him," Bruce said, with a suave grin. "Can't say what he thought of the offer, though. Man's got a poker face to beat, I'll tell you that much." He always put on an act during these events, big and loud and rich, the opposite of Batman's quiet, calculated, terror. Already, Dick felt himself suppressing a yawn. The only times these gatherings weren't incredibly boring were when they got attacked, and that would disrupt the point of this particular venture.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Well, if he contacts you, send the message along. I've already got the preliminary designs for new suits already drawn up." Even talking about the job he loved, Gabriel sounded bored. For a fashion designer, the man seemed to lack any life or flair at all. "Enjoy the party."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The duo split, Bruce to find his contact into the activities of Ra's Al Ghul, and Dick to... make some friends, he guessed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His eyes lingered on the rock wall and ropes course, but he forced them away after a few moments. No one was looking for Robin among these teens, but he wasn't one to take reckless chances in any case. He maneuvered his way to the snack bar and picked up an expensive pastry, retiring to some corner to eat it. It had been quiet lately and his friends had insisted they could survive without him for a few days, but still...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He'd rather be with the Titans.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Not big on parties?" A voice interrupted his brooding and he looked over to see a blonde haired boy, shirt untucked, but looking so natural it almost seemed like it was designed to be worn that way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It's a bit... much," Dick decided after a few moments.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The boy scratched the back of his head, looking around. "I know, right? I would way rather it just be a small group of friends watching a movie or something."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dick thought back to the Titans, probably doing that right then. "Yeah, a couple snacks, some banter, maybe cake afterwards?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The boy flashed him a grin, extending a hand. "Looks like we're on the same page, mon ami. Adrien Agreste."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Dick Grayson." He took the hand. "So this is your party, then?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Adrien rolled his eyes. "My father's party, more like. He doesn't... approve of my friend group in Paris. Put all this together so I could 'properly socialize'. I'm pretty sure he thinks any girl that shows an interest in me is a gold digger."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"What do you think?" Dick asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Adrien laughed. "I think I have way too little time to think about dating. How about you, anyone special?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dick felt a little heat in his collar when he thought about Starfire, letting a smirk slip past. "Back home, and yeah, she's definitely special." After a few moments, he shook himself from his reverie. "What's wrong with your friends from Paris?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Nothing's wrong with them," Adrien said quickly. "They're just a few too many tax brackets short for my dad's taste, if you know what I mean. Except Chloe, but she's got her own problems to deal with."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Chloe?" To be honest, Dick wasn't particularly interested in Adrien's life story, but he'd take anything that made the party go by faster.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"She's the mayor's daughter. We've been friends for forever, but sometimes she makes it hard," he winced. "And it's only gotten worse since Hawkmoth."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hawkmoth?" Now Robin was interested. Hawkmoth wasn't a normal name, which meant odds were good it was a-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Supervillain," Adrien confirmed. "He has these evil butterflies that twist someone's emotions into evil when they're upset." He sighed. "They also get superpowers. It's a mess."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dick quirked an eyebrow. "That sounds like a problem. Why haven't I heard of it before now?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Paris is a long way from America. Besides, Ladybug and Chat Noir can usually take care of things before they get out of hand."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now those names, he had heard of. "The Parisian superheroes, right? Doesn't one of them have some kind of reset power?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Ladybug, yes." Dick didn't miss the way Adrien's eyes shone with admiration. "Her lucky charm reverses most of the damage after cleansing an akuma."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So there were limits to it. That was a shame, having a reset button handy would be invaluable for most fights. "Sounds like you're a fan."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"How could I not be?" He asked, really smiling for the first time in the conversation. "She's strong, brave, clever. She puts up with puns and she always saves the day."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dick raised an eyebrow. Puts up with puns? "And here I thought you were too busy to think about dating."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Adrien laughed. "My Lady is always the exception." After a moment, he seemed to have heard what he just said and stopped laughing, growing pale. "Ladybug, I mean," he said, hurriedly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Interesting, Dick thought. Before he could press further, though, Adrien was grabbed by a small army of girls and taken away to do selfies.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Unable to help his curiosity, Dick typed the words 'Ladybug and Chat Noir' into his phone's search engine and carefully slid away to begin watching videos.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>|\&gt;&lt;/|</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>It wasn't a particularly long conversation. "Hey, kid you busy?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter Parker frantically began putting on his Spiderman suit as he answered. "No, Mister Stark. I'm ready to go, whatever it is. Is it aliens again?" He paused a second then shook his head. "No, don't tell me. It doesn't matter. I'll fight aliens any day of the week. I-"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Calm down, kid," Tony Stark laughed. "Nothing to fight, I was wondering if you were busy 'cause there's a party. Thought you might want to go."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter sat down on his bed, no longer worried about an alien invasion, but no more calm than before. "A party? Like an Avengers party?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"No, this is more on the Tony Stark side of things." He clarified. "You game?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter couldn't say yes fast enough, and after clearing it with his Aunt, he found himself dressed in an impeccably tailored suit in a limousine with Tony whipping their way down the road.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"So what is this party?" Peter asked eventually, sipping on a juicebox from the limo's bar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"An old friend's throwing a party for his son. He's about your age and the invite said I could bring someone, so I figured why not?" Tony said, breezily, sunglasses on, flipping through his smartphone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"What's his son like?" If it was an old friend of Tony's, that meant either very rich, very sciency, or very R rated, and considering the expensive suits they were wearing, it was easy to guess which one this was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tony shrugged. "Not sure. Haven't seen the guy in years, ever since..." he grew quiet for a moment, before explaining. "His wife died a while back and he kind of shut down, began burying himself in work. This was about the same time I went off the deep end a bit, too, so I never really followed up. But if he's throwing the kid a birthday party, that's something, right? Maybe he's on the mend."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So this whole party thing was mostly an excuse so Tony could check up on his friend? That was okay, Peter thought. As long as he could help out Mister Stark, it didn't really matter what the mission was, old friends or aliens.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The limousine stopped. "Are we here?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tony waved a hand? "At the party? No, that's in Paris. This is just the jet that's gonna take us there."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter nodded his head, only slightly bemused. Of course the party was in Paris, this was Mister Stark they were talking about here. Wait, Paris was in France. "Mister Stark, I can't speak French-"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The jet ride was over almost before he knew it, and shortly after, a seperate limousine took them to the building.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Tony Stark, with Godson," he said to the bouncers and he let them in without any fuss, stepping into the golden elevators and pressing the button for the top floor.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The scene that greeted them was incredible. In the corner, an enormous chocolate fountain stood, with all manner of fruits and cakes to dip into it. Soda machines lined one wall, all free of charge, and a buffet lined the walls end to end.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Video games were set up in a personal movie theatre in a side room. A DJ was in the corner blasting music for where there was still inexplicably room for a dance floor.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"This is amazing," Peter enthused, head swiveling trying to take it all in at once.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It's something alright," Tony mumbled under his breath. "Can you see Gabe? He'll probably be the only one in here wearing something different."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a few moments, Peter spotted him and pointed him out. "Wow, that suit's really white." It almost shone in the light. "I guess he's not worried about staining."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"He's probably got an army of attendants to get him into a new one as fast as possible if something happens. The guy makes more suits than me, though his are objectively less useful in combat." With that wisecrack, the pair made their way toward the host, and made their introductions.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I had heard you're a superhero now," Gabriel's face was touched with amusement for a moment. "How is that treating you?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Long hours, no hazard pay, and a lot of lectures from aliens, suprisingly. I do get my own action figures, though, so it's not all bad," Tony recounts facetiously.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Well, as one with a vested interest in the planet remaining unconquered by aliens, you have my thanks," Gabriel said and despite his voice not changing, it almost sounded sardonic, cynical, somehow.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tony turned to Peter, his expression plastic. "Hey, I'm just gonna be catching up with Gabe, here, so you can go and enjoy the party, alright?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter gave a salute and slipped away, giving them privacy. That was... weird. Mister Stark's old friend kind of sounded like a villain, with that cold sarcasm. Peter shook the thought away. He was probably just having a bad day. Though, if he was a villain, Peter was glad he brought the Spiderman suit just in case.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tony had recommended against putting it on under the suit, since red and blue tended to show through white shirts, but that didn't stop him from folding it really tightly and putting it in those deep suit pockets.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter looked around the room again, this time looking at the people instead of the things. You know, come to think of it, a lot of those billionaires looked like villains to him, so he was probably overreacting about Gabriel Agreste.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hey, you ever been to one of these before?" Someone asked, tapping him on the shoulder. When he turned around he saw a black haired boy point behind him with a thumb. "I'm trying to figure out if there's a rule for what you can put in the chocolate fountain."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oh, good, he was speaking English. Despite Tony's earlier assurances, Peter had noticed quite a few people speaking in French to each other, especially the kids. "No, this is my first time doing anything like this," he confessed, extending a hand. "Peter Parker."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The boy took it, amiably. "Danny Fenton. My 'uncle' dragged me here in exchange for a favor, so I'm just messing around until it's time to go home. You know this Adrien kid?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"No, his dad is one of Mister Stark's old friends, so he mostly came to see him," Peter explained, taking what exactly the quotation marks around 'uncle' meant and putting it on the back burner.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Mister Stark? Like Tony Stark?" Peter nodded and Danny laughed. "Tucker's gonna freak. He's a huge tech nerd."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hey, hey, hey, let's not be down on tech nerds, here," Peter said, half-jokingly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Danny waved a hand. "No, Tucker's one of my best friends. Don't even worry about it." After a moment's pause, he gestured behind him again. "You wanna start dipping things in the chocolate fountain until someone tells us to stop?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It wasn't a particularly long conversation. "Dude, what are we still doing here? Let's go."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The pair retired to the chocolate fountain, testing the limits of authority and good taste with their combinations.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Meanwhile, a certain magician entered the elevator on the first floor and began his steady ascent. He adjusted his gloves, then his hat, preparing for his greatest performance yet.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>|\&gt;&lt;/|</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>Adrien Agreste locked the bathroom stall, thankful for the moment of privacy he had, however brief. These big parties always made him anxious, and after becoming Chat Noir it only got worse.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>At any moment, anywhere in Paris, Hawkmoth could be using his Akuma butterflies to create monsters from innocent civilians. It could have already happened, and he would have no way of knowing about it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He checked the Ladyblog to see if Alya's budding journalist tendencies (and tendency to put herself in danger when she saw an Akuma just to report on it) had turned up any more sightings, and relaxed slightly when they hadn't.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Still, even if there were a sighting, he'd be hard-pressed to get away to help. It took some serious convincing just to convince his father to host the party in Paris, and with the way he kept getting jumped by opportunistic debutantes, leaving the party stealthily was not an option. Unless the Akuma walked into the building and attacked the party, Ladybug would be flying solo that night.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Are you done moping yet?" Plagg asked, leaving his coat pocket to float in the air beside him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It's not moping. I'm worried about Ladybug," Adrien corrected.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You're moping," Plagg reasserted. "You're moping cause you don't like parties, and you're using Ladybug as an excuse."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I like parties just fine," Adrien snapped. "It's just this one that's driving me crazy." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Plagg raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with this one?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"What's wrong?" Adrien repeated, disbelievingly. "How about, they're blasting the music too loud, or maybe how everyone in the room is wearing too much perfume, or what about how I can't walk two steps without being ambushed by people who only want to talk to me because of my father?" He sighed, slumping against the wall. "I don't know. I've been to big parties like this before, but they've never bothered me this much."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Plagg scratched the back of his head with a paw, looking away. "Okay, so that kinda might partially be my fault."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Adrien frowned. "Explain."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Well, you're getting more acclimated to your Miraculous, which is great news since it means you're more in tune with all the knowledge and skills the previous Chat Noirs had when you're transformed." The kwami hesitated until Adrien started tapping his foot impatiently. "But, it also means you're more connected to the cat side of the Miraculous, as a side effect."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Side effect?" That didn't sound good.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Well it's supposed to help your hero work. Enhanced senses let you detect danger from farther away, balance helps your climbing, a cats diet will ensure you have the right nutrients for-"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Adrien groaned. "A cat's diet? You're saying I'm gonna start craving tuna from a can now?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hey, it's only a possibility," Plagg said, defensively. "It takes most Chat Noirs years to become acclimated enough to start experiencing these connections, and they're always a little different from person to person. My guess is you were already naturally leaning toward a few catlike traits and the Miraculous just gave you a little push."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Adrien shook his head, opening the door and walking out of the bathroom. "I can't deal with this right now."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He took three steps before stopping. Wasn't there music playing a moment ago? Come to think of it, even the rumble of conversation from all the guests had completely disappeared. Adrien pressed his back against the wall to take a look, but he already suspected the cause.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When he saw a blue-skinned magician shuffling a deck of cards in the now nearly empty room, he felt a pit in his stomach as that confirmed it. He had to be an Akuma.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He looked all around the room, staying out of sight of the apparent magician. No statues, no minions, no bubbles floating in the sky, whatever he'd done to the people, it was subtler than most Akuma.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a moment, Adrien did see people, though. It seemed the Akuma had left a small group of children untouched and Adrien watched as they went around the room at his behest gathering whatever articles of value the adults had dropped. Jewelry, smartphones, wallets, all went into the Akuma's bottomless magician's cap.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A thief? Odd. Most of the Akumas had some personal vendetta to accomplish. Still, he couldn't let it distract him and... did that kid just disappear? "Okay, getting close to the weirdness quota."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Speak for yourself," Plagg huffed. "I could take way more weirdness."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Adrien facepalmed, shaking his head for a moment before punching an arm into the air. "Plagg, claws out."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He felt the familiar power of the transformation wash over him as he created his mask, ears, claws, tail, and more thanks to Plagg's magic.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I hope you're not the magician's assistant," a sarcastic voice came from behind him, and he spun quickly to face a floating boy with silver hair wearing a black and white jumpsuit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Are you a Miraculous holder?" Chat asked, still crouched defensively. He couldn't tell which animal he could be, but he didn't seem like an Akuma. Still, there was something about the floating boy that made the cat superhero's hair stand on end.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The boy blinked. "I don't know what that is. Should I take that to mean you're not teaming up with David Lame over there?" He asked, gesturing to the magician.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chat smirked, standing up and flipping his staff so it rested on his shoulder. "My partner's a little easier on the eyes," he answered, a gross understatement. "She wears bright red spandex, so if you see her, let me know. This guy's an Akuma, which means we won't be able to beat him without her."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chat felt something soft hit the back of his head. He turned around and looked down to see a paper airplane. Carefully opening it, he read the message within, written in strict black marker. 'Distract villain. Get kids out. Backup incoming.'</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Well, that's better than my plan," the floating boy remarked. "And before you start calling me Inviso-Bill, the name is Phantom. Danny Phantom," he introduced himself, extending a hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Chat Noir," he took it, then turned back to the kids moving around the room. That message... could one of those teens be Ladybug? He shook his head. That didn't matter right then. "I'll distract. You get them out. Sound good?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Let's do this," Danny agreed, turning invisible even as Chat stepped out into the light.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Show's over, Akuma," he shouted, and the magician turned suddenly to look at the brazen black cat. "This is your last paw-formance."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"That was a stretch, even for me," Danny commented invisibly off to the side.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"The show may be over, but I'm always ready for an encore," the villain cried, taking a wand out of his coat and pointing it at Chat. "Mumbo jumbo." With that, he supposed, incantation, a bolt of lightning shot from the wand that Chat nimbly dodged. Looking back at where it struck, he frowned at the decorative basket of orchids that now resembled a bunny rabit made from the expensive plants.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oh good. A transforming Akuma. Personally, Chat ranked those slightly above statue Akumas and solidly below mind control Akumas in terms of unpleasantness. They were not fun to deal with.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Mumbo Jumbo," he repeated, waving the wand again, and started firing bursts of the transformative lightning as Chat ducked and dodged.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In the background, he could see Danny Phantom phasing civilians through the floor into the level below, but he couldn't focus on that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It's curtains for you," the villain shouted, aiming up and transforming the metal curtainrod so the thick fabric could land right on top of the fast moving feline.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Silly Akuma," Chat chuckled. "Cats shred curtains." Putting action to the words, Chat easily tore through them with his claws, standing up again, but freezing when he stared right into the wand, mere inches from his face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Misdirection," the villain said, snidely. "That's what magicians do."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Two steel-reinforced boots kicked off the magician's face with a deadly force, sending him flying into the far wall. "They're not the only ones," the boots' owner replied.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chat looked at the newcomer appraisingly. Spiky black hair, domino mask, and an outfit in bright red, green, and yellow, complete with cape. He almost looked more like a circus performer than a superhero, but the serious expression on his face belied that, somewhat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Who are you?" Danny asked, becoming visible again to stand beside Chat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Give it a second," he said with a smirk. "If my guess is right, we've got one more guest incoming."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>True to his word, another superhero dressed in bright red spandex burst through the door, front flipping to stand beside the newcomer. "Okay, I'm here. I'm here. What'd I miss?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Uh...?" Danny held a hand up turning to Chat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chat looked at him, then the newcomer and shook his head. "Funny coincidence, but no. My Lady is bug-themed."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Oh, I'm Spiderman," he introduced himself</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chat scratched his head. "Well, My Lady also swings through the air on tiny thread."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Spiderman shot a web to the ceiling and swung over to Chat. "Like that?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"What's this?" The Akuma called as he extracted himself from the rubble, unharmed. "A new audience? What do you call this one? Titans West?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chat leveled a glare at Spiderman. "This isn't over."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Wait a second," Danny interrupted, pointing at the red green and yellow superhero. "Are you Robin from the Teen Titans?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Robin blinked. "Normally, most people recognize me as Batman's sidekick."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Dude," Danny smacked his hand to his head, a beaming smile affixed firmly to his face. "I binged a ton of videos of you guys fighting when I was first figuring out the hero thing. You're kind of my idol."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Mumbo Jumbo." Another bolt of transforming electricity shrieked past as the assembled heroes dodged in different directions.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Oh, right, the villain," Spiderman said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chat landed first, jumping toward the villain to draw his fire. "The Akuma's gotta be in his wand. If we separate him from it, he won't be able to do much until Ladybug gets here."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"He's not an Akuma," Robin differed. "This is a villain I faced back in Jump City, named-"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Mumbo Jumbo." Chat dodged another blast.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah, that," Robin continued. "He's got more than a few tricks up his sleeve, but break his wand and he loses all the smoke and mirrors."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chat frowned, skeptically. "Are you sure that's not an Akuma? It sounds an awful lot like it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Not to put too fine a point on it, but don't your Akuma's speak French?" Robin asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chat shrugged. "You got me there." He turned back to the villain, leather tail flicking from side to side in expectation. "So what do you say, Mumbo? Care for a game of cat and mouse?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I prefer fifty-two pickup," he answered with a maniacal laugh as playing cards began shooting from his sleeves with dangerous speed. "Or should I say fifty-two cutup?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chat began spinning his staff, blocking the projectiles. "Uh, guys? Any ideas?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Robin stood beside him, spinning his own staff in much the same way, and turning to almost imperceptibly mouth the words, 'buy time.'</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chat grinned. After all, that was his specialty.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The two acrobats dodged cards, magic spells, and at one point a particularly handsy pair of gloves before finally Mumbo's wand was snatched from his grip by a line of web made invisible with Danny's powers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Danny snapped the wand, Spiderman webbed the now normal thief to the wall, and Chat Noir and Robin got a well-earned rest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Where are the other guests?" Robin interrogated Mumbo, his voice brokering no argument.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Well don't look at me, it was this mirror, see? Indestructible by you or me." Mumbo explained and Danny retrieved a strange mirror with arcane glyphs around it. Inside, the four superheroes could see the adult guests pounding on the glass in their private little mirror world.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Well, how do we get them out?" Spiderman asked. "Is there, like, a magic spell or something?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"More or less," Robin confirmed, passing it off to Chat. "If you don't mind, I'd prefer the black cat take the seven years bad luck."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With a smirk of understanding, Chat raised his hand. "Cataclysm," he shouted, bringing it down on the mirror and watching it shatter.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mumbo gasped. "What is this? How can it be? To break the glass so easily?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Was he rhyming before?" Spiderman asked. "I'm confused. Shouldn't he have been rhyming while a magician, then stopped when his powers went away? I don't get it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Magicians don't rhyme, though," Danny pointed out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Spiderman shrugged. "In that case, now I'm more confused than ever."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The shards of broken mirror began to smoke and from the smoke, the party guests reappeared. Chat's ring beeped, one of the pads disappearing marking four minutes before he'd have to change back. "Well, gentlemen. I think that's our cue."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The superheroes scattered in different directions, escaping any questions from the newly rescued adults, and a few minutes later, four teens rejoined the crowd, meeting up with their respective guardians.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The party was called early, everyone caught their flights home, and it wasn't until Adrien was back in his room, changing into his pajamas he noticed a note in his suit trouser pocket. He picked it up and unfolded it, feeling his stomach drop at the foreboding message. At the top was a link to some website he'd never heard of, and at the bottom were three simple words.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>'I know. -Robin'</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ignoring the heaviness in his body, Adrien maneuvered his way to the computer in the dark, turning it on and carefully typing in the link in the note, coming across a prompt to create a username.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What should he say? Something about Chat Noir? That seemed to be what the note was saying, but it was also incredibly vague. Was it a bluff? Better to pick something more neutral, just in case.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>'Lucky,' he typed. Perfect.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He pressed enter and blinked at the screen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>'Lucky has joined the chat.'</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Half Windsor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So the group chat begins. For anyone wondering about Danny, these are all the typos I normally make writing these stories, just not fixed. I primarily write on my phone, and I have very sloppy thumbs.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Robin has created the chat, Experimental Group Chat.</p>
<p>Lucky has joined the chat.</p>
<p>Peter B has joined the chat.</p>
<p>Lucky: Is this some American club I've just been invited to?</p>
<p>Peter B: i got a note</p>
<p>Peter B: did anyone else get a note?</p>
<p>Ghostboy has joined the chat.</p>
<p>Ghostboy: I got a note</p>
<p>Robin: I gave each of you a note because I suspect you are the civilian identities of Danny Phantom, Chat Noir, and Spiderman. Am I wrong?</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Why is it every time I leave town someonr figures out my secret idnentity?</p>
<p>Peter B: maybe its a sign</p>
<p>Peter B: wait is this all people at that party?</p>
<p>Peter B: spy.jpeg</p>
<p>Peter B: it could be any one of us</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Well youre spiderman</p>
<p>Ghostboy: You put your real name as your username</p>
<p>Lucky: Also, you walked in with Iron Man, which was kind of a giveaway.</p>
<p>Robin: I don't think you can really talk about codenames, Danny...</p>
<p>Peter B: WAIT A SECOND</p>
<p>Peter B: DANNY PHANTOM</p>
<p>Peter B: DANNY FENTON</p>
<p>Peter B: IM SUCH AN IDIOTGAFGAGBEJEIDHE</p>
<p>Lucky: I'm gonna go out on a limb and say @Robin is Dick Grayson</p>
<p>Robin: I figured you'd notice, Adrien Agreste.</p>
<p>Lucky: Yeah, kinda bricked it with the Ladybug thing, huh?</p>
<p>Robin: Actually, my first clue was you mentioning you had no time. I'd been listening to some of the chatter around the room and the general sentiment was that you were some kind of rebellious layabout, but meeting you in person didn't click with that image. Rebellious, maybe, but you seemed far more disciplined than the picture being painted, and if you weren't spending your time improving your image, I began to wonder what you were doing. The more personal comments you made about Ladybug were a solid lead, but I didn't fit it all together until I saw your reaction to...<br/>Keep Reading:</p>
<p>Peter B: jesus christ</p>
<p>Ghostboy: How did you write like a whole english paper in less than a minute</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Better question why did you do that?</p>
<p>Lucky: You noticed all that?</p>
<p>Robin: Former sidekick of the world's greatest detective here...</p>
<p>Lucky: Right, that's fair.</p>
<p>Ghostboy: So noe we all know each others secret identitties whats the point of bringing us all together like this? Are you boulding a tean?</p>
<p>Peter B: turn spellcheck on</p>
<p>Lucky: Or just proofread your messages.</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Whos got that kind of time?</p>
<p>Robin: I already have a team, this is more of a... collective resource. At a guess, most of you don't have many people who can relate with carrying on a secret identity. I know I don't, at least not in the same way. I thought this could be a place you could ask for advice, talk something out, or just complain to people who probably had very similar experiences.</p>
<p>Ghostboy: So if i said something like</p>
<p>Ghostboy: I wish my archenemy would stop coming into my house and talking to my parents</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Whats anyone supposed to say about that?</p>
<p>Peter B: my problem was more like i was in his house and he was the parent because i was trying to take his daughter to prom</p>
<p>Peter B: that was a weird day not gonna lie</p>
<p>Lucky: I just wish I could get through a single week of school without the school being attacked by supervillains.</p>
<p>Peter B: SAME</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Thats a mood</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Or a week where im not late for class every day because apparemtly no onr i fight has ever heard of a dayjob</p>
<p>Lucky: You know some people in class are actually there before it starts and get to talk to their friends and everything.</p>
<p>Lucky: Or at least that's what I hear because I am NEVER one of them.</p>
<p>Peter B: pretty sure my teachers think i have a stomach condition that forces me to disappear into the bathroom for a few hours every time a monster attacks</p>
<p>Ghostboy: At whay point do we get our own bathroom pass tho</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Pretty sure were keepint that industry alive all by ourselves</p>
<p>Lucky: I'd kinda like my own pass, actually. I know no one knows all the work I do for Paris, but I feel like I deserve it.</p>
<p>Peter B: dude not getting paid sucks too</p>
<p>Peter B: i don't even care about not getting the recognition (like it'd be nice but) just please tip your spiderman some cash so he can get coffee tomorrow morning cause he was up all night busting bankrobbers and didn't do his homework</p>
<p>Lucky: If I have a ton of homework due the next day, there will be an Akuma attack. It's not even something I'll bet on anymore, it's every time.</p>
<p>Ghostboy: I think at some point when they realized they couldnt kill us they just decided to make sure we dont graduate</p>
<p>Robin: Trying to take over the city is one thing, but that's crossing the line.</p>
<p>Peter B: like that but no sarcasm</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Wait why are you complaining about money? Arent you like starks son or whayever?</p>
<p>Peter B: ironmanstonks.png</p>
<p>Peter B: but no im his godson and my aunt flat out vetoed him giving me money</p>
<p>Peter B: im a broke boi</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Well now I feel a little better about being here i thought everyonr was super rich but me</p>
<p>Robin: Turns out it's just half of us.</p>
<p>Ghostboy: I dont need your lip batboy</p>
<p>Robin: shrug.gif</p>
<p>Lucky: So Peter came in with Stark, but how did you get into the party if your family isn't wealthy? I'm pretty sure that was my father's whole point was for me to meet other rich kids at the party.</p>
<p>Ghostboy: My dads old college friend is this dude named vlad masters</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Super rich super evil and super obsessed with my mom</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Hes also half ghost like me so hes pretty much my archenemy. Definitely one of the toughest guys ive ever fought</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Anyway i owed him a favor so he basically used me qs a pass into the party</p>
<p>Lucky: That's rough. My archenemy's usually a lot less face to face.</p>
<p>Robin: Tell me about it.</p>
<p>Peter B: i dont really have an archenemy right now per se mostly im just fighting regular dudes sometimes with crazy alien tech</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Youd better watch what you say</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Robins dating a crazy alien</p>
<p>Peter B: whoah no offense dude</p>
<p>Robin: He was joking...</p>
<p>Robin: And she's not crazy!</p>
<p>Lucky: Are you actually dating an alien?</p>
<p>Robin: We're not really dating, but she is an alien.</p>
<p>Peter B: all i can picture is chitauri right now</p>
<p>Ghostboy: No shes smoking hot</p>
<p>Robin: Danny!</p>
<p>Ghostboy: What?</p>
<p>Robin: That's my teammate you're talking about there.</p>
<p>Lucky: raven.png</p>
<p>Lucky: Is this the one?</p>
<p>Robin: What? No, that's Raven, we're just friends.</p>
<p>Lucky: Just looked it up and quite a few people seem to think otherwise</p>
<p>Lucky: She's also the most beautiful, but I have a thing for blue haired superheroes that might be skewing the curve here</p>
<p>Robin: ...</p>
<p>Robin: You're wrong, but ok.</p>
<p>Peter B: hey guys i just realized something</p>
<p>Peter B has changed the name of Experimental Group Chat to THE BLACK TUX GANG</p>
<p>Peter B: I HAVE ADMIN PRIVILEGES BIIIIISSSSHH</p>
<p>Robin: Oh, god.</p>
<p>Ghostboy: Whose idea qas this again?</p>
<p>Lucky: I'm going to bed</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Trinity</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Wow, was not expecting this kind of response. Thanks, everyone for reading and commenting. If I haven't replied to your comment yet, it's probably because I'm blushing too hard.</p>
<p>Anyway, enjoy these wackamoles.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Peter B changed name to Stark Jr</p>
<p>Ghostboy changed name to Astronut</p>
<p>Lucky changed name to Not Spiderman</p>
<p>Stark Jr changed name to Not Chat</p>
<p>Astronut changed name to Which Chat?</p>
<p>Not Spiderman changed name to This Chat</p>
<p>Which Chat? changed name to Oh Okay</p>
<p>Not Chat changed name to Chat Noir</p>
<p>This Chat changed name to No You're Not</p>
<p>Chat Noir changed name to OuiOuiBaguette</p>
<p>No You're Not changed name to Spidertourist</p>
<p>OuiOuiBaguette changed name to MiniAvenger</p>
<p>Spidertourist changed name to Catastrophe</p>
<p>Robin: What happened here?</p>
<p>Oh Okay: Its better not to question it</p>
<p>Oh Okay changed name to Inviso-Bill</p>
<p>Robin: I'll take your word for it.</p>
<p>Robin: My team says hi, by the way.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Tell Raven hi back</p>
<p>Robin: I absolutely will not.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Spoilsport</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: yo does anyone know how to treat a bullet wound?</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: A what wound?</p>
<p>Robin: I am also confused. Laser burns should be treated with cold water and hydrocortisone cream. Wrap gently, and seek help from a trusted medical professional if the burn is severe.</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: not a laser just like a regular bullet from a regular gun</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: You mean an ecto-gun?</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: WHAT PART OF REGULAR GUN IS CONFUSING</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Let's stick a pin in whatever their problem is. YOU GOT SHOT? WHO SHOT YOU?</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: i dunno just a regular bankrobber dude</p>
<p>Robin: Have you figured out who their supplier is? There could be another mastermind supplying them with weapons.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Yeah thats what froot loop did with a girl i know named valerie</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: they prob bought it from a store these guys were not mastermind material</p>
<p>Robin: What kind of store sells laser weapons to random citizens?</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: okay i dont know how i havent gotten this across so here it goes</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: THESE ARE REGULAR GUNS NOT LASER GUNS ECTO GUNS OR MAGIC GUNS</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I was about to ask what store would sell criminals regular guns, but then I remembered you live in America</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: you better watch yourself i can change my name back any time</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Quick question, why can't you just go to the hospital?</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: and have them ask how i got shot then tell my aunt may? pass</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Uh what about stark</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Hes gotta have a perspnal doctor rught?</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: ...</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: im an idiot</p>
<p>Robin: I'm so glad this resource is available so you can realize that.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: You didnt think of that?!?</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: i got shot! besides you really want me to go through the rundown here?</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: @Robin you got someone who uses space magic to heal everyones wounds</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: @Catastrophe you got someone who uses bug magic to fix any damage after you beat the bad guy</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: @Inviso-Bill you got ghost magic that makes it so you can literally phase through any attack</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: and this is news to me now</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: APPARENTLY IM THE ONLY ONE WHO GETS SHOT WITH REAL GUNS</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: I use ghost science for the record</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Do you know how it works?</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: No clue</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Then how do you know it's not magic?</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: ...</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: yougotmethere.jpeg</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Wait, isn't Batman not using guns a big deal? How does @Robin not know what a gun is?</p>
<p>Robin: Obviously, Batman made a vow never to use laser guns.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Obviously</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Hey unrelated but does anyone sometimes wish they hadnt told their best friends about their superhero identity?</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: what do you mean</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: My friends are great and i definitely couldnt have gotten this far without them but sometikes it feels like the ghost stuff is all we ever talk about</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: At one point i actually made friends with a girl in my class and it was zo refreshing to actually talk about something rlse for a change before she had yo cut it off because of more ghost stuff</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: I mean geeze ghost talk twenty four seven i feel like im becoming my parents</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I'm gonna have to pass this off to someone else. The only one who knows I'm Chat Noir besides you guys is the one who gave me my powers and I hardly even see him</p>
<p>Robin: Not even Ladybug knows?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Nope. She's actually the one who wanted to keep our identities secret even from each other. It's been... hard.</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: @Inviso-Bill i know what you mean</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: i have normal convos with my friend ned all the time but i always wish mister stark would talk to me about something other than heroing once in a while</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: like i know the only reason he knows me at all is because of the spiderman thing but i wish we could move past that a little</p>
<p>Robin: I guess I can't be too surprised by Ladybug's reluctance. My team doesn't know my civilian identity, either.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Exactly like i already have to deal with beinf attacked and randomly phasing through things why do mu friends have to constamtly remind me im a superhero</p>
<p>Catastrophe: What? How? Don't you live in the same house?</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: its crazy sometimes ill see him call and freak out cause i think he needs backup for something</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: you see any of those vids from ny of the avengers tearing up a huge army of aliens?</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: pretty sure theres no way i can do that</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Oh, yeah, fighting an army sucks, for sure. Sometimes it seems like every other Akuma can make a huge army of possessed people</p>
<p>Robin: The Titans Tower is a bit bigger than a house, and my room's security is patterned after the Batcave. Trust me. No one's finding out my identity if I don't want them to.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Maybe i just need a vacation </p>
<p>Inviso-Bill @MiniAvenger hows new yrok this time of year</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: cold and full of guns</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Thats fair</p>
<p>Catastrophe: You could always come back to Paris. Here, it's cold and full of Akumas</p>
<p>Robin: Jump City is actually unseasonably warm right now.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Then its settled</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Guess im heading to jump</p>
<p>Robin: Bad plan. Very bad plan.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: gee rob tell me how you really feel</p>
<p>Robin: I don't know what kind of support you have back home, but I doubt it's at a level you can randomly skip town when you want to.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Okay youve got a point</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: That sucks though i want a titans tower tour at some point</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: i mean im pretty free</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: what if i went where danny lives and kind of cover his shift?</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: boom instant vacation</p>
<p>Catastrophe: New York won't miss Spiderman just disappearing for a while?</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: well yeah a bit but its not like thats never happened before</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: i don't really have any excuses for my aunt or school why i prefer sticking around ny so i take trips out of town all the time</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: heck we all met in paris so our superhero stuff cant be completely time consuming</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I live in Paris, though</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: youre excused</p>
<p>Robin: This might be a stupid question. @Inviso-Bill don't you mostly fight ghosts?</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Yea</p>
<p>Robin: @MiniAvenger does your webbing trap ghosts?</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: ill go with probably not on that one</p>
<p>Robin: Guess it wasn't a stupid question after all.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Alright smart guy whats your plan?</p>
<p>Robin: If, and only if, any kind of 'covering shifts' happened, we'd have to do it in such a way that we could actually accomplish each other's roles. With all the ghost tech available, I would probably be the best choice for Amity Park. On the other hand, with Adrien's transformation limit, he'd be better off in situations that didn't require extended time, like New York. Danny probably has the most experience besides me in leading, so he might be able to fill my role with the Titans. While Peter's animal motif and ease of city travel would allow him to fit in nicely fighting Akumas.</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: did you come up with all that just now?</p>
<p>Robin: Actually, I came up with all that before I even started the groupchat.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Well, I don't know about you guys, but to me it sounds like a great idea</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Agreed</p>
<p>Robin: What?</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: yeah what?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: We've got some time off for school coming up, so what about a good old super-switcheroo?</p>
<p>Robin: What?</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Well meet up sometime so we can show each other the ropes then when spring break comes ill go to jump robin will go to amity adrien will go to ny and peter will go to paris</p>
<p>Robin: What?</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: that sounds awesome</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: wait i cant speak french</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: okay karen says she can translate</p>
<p>MiniAvenger: so were all good</p>
<p>Robin changed name to What?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I'll have to check it with Ladybug, but this isn't the first time I've had to leave town and at least I'm leaving behind some extra help this time around</p>
<p>What?: When did I lose control, here?</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: I think thisll be good for us</p>
<p>What?: I think I'm going to lie down.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Kipper</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Welcome back to the Black Tux Gang, where updating takes two months, despite the fact these chapters are only slightly longer than Robin's new calculated life expectancy after inviting chaos into his relatively serene superhero life.</p>
<p>Don't feel bad. He did it to himself.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>MiniAvenger changed name to ChatsReplacement</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: @Catastrophe this hotel room is huge how big is your allowance?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Don't have an allowance. The room is actually a favor from my friend Chloe. You should be meeting with her pretty soon.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Fair warning, she can be a bit... abrasive, sometimes.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: no worries im used to it from mj</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: oh get ned to introduce you to mj</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Does she know you're Spiderman?</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: i really hope not</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: shes cool tho so you should meet her while youre in town</p>
<p>What? changed name to GhostRobin</p>
<p>GhostRobin: @Inviso-Bill Your family is interesting. (edited)</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Wait i just logged on what did it say before</p>
<p>GhostRobin: ...</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: WHAT DID IT SAY BEFORE</p>
<p>Catastrophe: So is everyone set up now, got everything they need?</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: ROBIN</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: yep just chilling in the room now</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: ladybug is super nice btw</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Oh, yeah, she's the best.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Plane just landed waiting for them to open the doors</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: I coild probably just phase out but im trying to pretend i have a secret identity for a few minutes</p>
<p>GhostRobin: I'm all set up at this point. Your friend Sam has a surprisingly nice house.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Figured you might like that more rhan bunking in my room</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Sam had to pull a few parental strings to make it happem tho so she might ask a favor as payback sometime</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Should I be worried?</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: No. (edited)</p>
<p>GhostRobin: ...</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: okay so just talked to chloe</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: i dont even work here and i feel like i just got fired</p>
<p>Catastrophe: She tends to have that effect on people. Try not to take it too hard.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: she doesnt actually have the authority to kick me out onto the street if i piss her off does she?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: No, she totally does.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: but she wouldnt right?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I feel like you're focusing on the negatives, here.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: @GhostRobin I know you introduced me to everyone when you were showing me around the tower before but seeing them all lined up at the airport is super weird</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Trannsfrmed nnd readdy tt go</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: the heck</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Yeah, that was bad, even for you.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Iiill explln llter</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: absolutely did not catch that</p>
<p>GhostRobin: "I'll explain later," is the translation, I believe.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Ye</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Well that answers that, I guess.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: @Catastrophe what french food should i try while im here?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: My friend's parents run a bakery that's pretty close to the hotel. Their macarons are to die for, really.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: ugh</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: dont like macarons tbh</p>
<p>Catastrophe: First of all, take that back.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Second of all, I'm assuming the macarons you tried weren't really high quality.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: if by that you mean were they in a twenty pack plastic box in the grocery store then yeah</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I'm going to pretend I didn't read that.</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Can anyone explain why the relatively middle class town of Amity Park is able to purchase expensive, questionably legal, technological components seemingly en masse for the purposes of various ghost destruction or capture devices?</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: I dont know specifically but blaming vlad is standard procedure for questions like that</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Oh im back btw</p>
<p>Catastrophe: What even happened, before?</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: You ever try to use a touchscreen with gloves?</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Or with ghost fingers?</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Not a good time</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: oof</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Yeah</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: On the plus side i am now in titand tower which is actually the greatest thing ever</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: @GhostRobin Is it cool if i walk around not in ghost form?</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Like is that rude somehow?</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Why would that be rude?</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: I dunno everyone else is suited up just feels like im showing up underdressed</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Everyone changes outfits from time to time, usually the suits we fight in are just what we find most comfortable. Really, the most that will probably happen if you turn human is Starfire asking about your hair.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Great cause im actually not sure how long i can go ghost at a time</p>
<p>GhostRobin: You've never tested your powers?</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: I test my powers</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: I mean not formally or anything but still</p>
<p>GhostRobin: I'm just gonna go way out on a limb here and guess @Catastrophe and @ChatsReplacement are the same way.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I'm really more of a learn on the job type.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: i did tests at the start but i already know those numbers arent accurate anymore</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Might be a project for later. In the meantime, I've got ecto-enhanced Birdarangs to test.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Do you actually call them Birdarangs?</p>
<p>GhostRobin: That's their name, so yes. Why?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I dunno, it's just kind of weird to say.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Birdarang</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Batman's are called Batarangs, mine are called Birdarangs. What's the problem?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: No problem, just pointing out it sounds weird when you say it out loud.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Birdarang</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Even spelling it feels weird.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: birdarang</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: oh my god that did feel weird</p>
<p>GhostRobin: I'm just gonna go ahead and mute this chat while I test out these Birdarangs, thank you very much.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Birdarang</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Huh</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: just turned on the news and that definitely looks like an akuma so ill brb</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Yeah, I should probably go on patrol.</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: Looks like its chill with the titans time for me then</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill: ...</p>
<p>Inviso-Bill changed name to Birdarang</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Eldredge</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If I have accomplished nothing else, I have succeeded in making way too many people laugh at the word 'Birdarang'.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for reading.</p>
<p>(Handy dandy username guide)</p>
<p>Danny - Birdarang<br/>Adrien - Catastrophe<br/>Robin - GhostRobin<br/>Peter - ChatsReplacement</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Birdarang: So ive never had a villain just straight up stop their evil plan before</p>
<p>Birdarang: Like that was super weird</p>
<p>Catastrophe: ?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Explain.</p>
<p>Birdarang: Short version me and the titans were following up all these clues for strange tidal waves and weird seismix signatures and all that junk</p>
<p>Birdarang: Aqualad was there too</p>
<p>Birdarang: And we finally tracked everything down to a warehouse that had a secret underground tunnel leading to a supervillain base with all kinds of traps and robot guards it was great</p>
<p>Birdarang: I got super hyped villain showed up cool mask big speech he had a huge monster and rught before he attacked us with it he asked where @GhostRobin was</p>
<p>Birdarang: We told him you werent there and at first he must have thought we were screwing wuth him but you still didnt show up after he attacked us with the monster so he called it off and literally just left</p>
<p>Birdarang: Honestly never felt so offended by a villain giving up</p>
<p>GhostRobin: This was Slade?</p>
<p>Birdarang: Yeah it was slade</p>
<p>GhostRobin: You didn't tell him I was in Amity Park, did you?</p>
<p>Birdarang: Despite all the ghosts i do still like my town so no</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Good, because he would absolutely take the next jet here.</p>
<p>Birdarang: What did you even do to get him so obsessed with you?</p>
<p>GhostRobin: If I knew the answer to that, I would absolutely tell you.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: legit question does ladybug know everyone in paris?</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: because weve fought like eight akumas and she's known who every single one of them is</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: well just be fighting some shark dude and shell say oh thats jacques requin from the docks and im like hes a walking shark how can you possibly know that</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I used to think that was part of her superpowers like how I can see in the dark, but no. I'm pretty sure she's just that good.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: legend</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: wait you can see in the dark?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Only when I'm transformed. It comes up surprisingly not that often.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: anyone else got other random superpowers i dont know about?</p>
<p>Birdarang: Dude i dont even know most of my random superpowers</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Hopefully, we can test that.</p>
<p>Birdarang: While were doing that can we find out what the deal is with my and ravens powers?</p>
<p>Birdarang: Cause theyre super similar</p>
<p>GhostRobin: I had considered that, but looking at all the ghost research available here from your parents, the Guys in White, and Vlad Masters, I think it's more coincidence than anything. Raven's abilities function through Azarathean magic, while your and by extension nearly every ghost I've read about's powers are purely biological, with some technology mixed in here and there.</p>
<p>Birdarang: Even desiree?</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Your parents' notes just say 'wish powers' under the section to list her abilities, so I think I'll have to do some independant research, there.</p>
<p>Birdarang: Thats fair</p>
<p>Catastrophe: @ChatsReplacement Can you tell Ladybug that we somehow have fans in America?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: It took her forever to even acknowledge we have fans in Paris, she will absolutely flip when she hears about this.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: piiiiiiiiccccssss</p>
<p>Catastrophe: IMG_3137.jpeg</p>
<p>Catastrophe: IMG_3138.jpeg</p>
<p>Catastrophe: This is Alex on the left and Bill on the right. I am leaving Paris forever because they are now my everything.</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Nice Chat Noir shirt.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Isn't it, though?</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: is that rhino in the background of the second pic?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Yeah. So far, he's actually the most Akuma-like villain I've fought here. You won't believe how many Akumas just won't go down, no matter how much you fight them.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: im definitely starting to find out</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Oh, ouch. How is that going?</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: the good news is my critical thinking is way ahead of what it was before</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: the bad news is when i get back to new york im gonna be afraid to punch anything</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: something bad always happens when i punch an akuma</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: 100% of the time</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I mean, Ladybug resets everything after the Akuma's defeated anyway, so it's usually not too bad.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: oh yeah getting used to feeling pain after a fight is also gonna suck when i get back</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: i want to bottle that lucky charm</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Failing that, you try those macarons yet?</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: fiiiiiine i will</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: oh you still havent dmed the address to me</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Oops, fixed.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: danke</p>
<p>Birdarang: It was starfires turn to make dinner @GhostRobin</p>
<p>Birdarang: Where do yuo keep the antidote</p>
<p>GhostRobin: What was it?</p>
<p>Birdarang: I think she called it stewed nutmeg</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Stewed Gruntmag?</p>
<p>Birdarang: Thats the one</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Go to the garage, there's a blue bottle in the second drawer closest to the door. Do not take what's in the red bottle. Do not open the cage. Do not touch the T Car.</p>
<p>Birdarang: Gotcha</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Okay, but you're not actually allowed to not explain what that means.</p>
<p>GhostRobin: What what means?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: So many things. What's even in the cage, for starters?</p>
<p>GhostRobin: It's either a small alien assassin utilizing cutting edge stealth tech to try and assassinate Starfire, or it's empty.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I feel like you're messing with me...</p>
<p>GhostRobin: I am. It's just Silkie's carrying case. We keep it closed so it doesn't swing open and trip anyone up.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I don't know if I should ask about Silkie, all that other weird stuff you said, or the fact you actually made a joke.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: WOAH ROBIN MADE A JOKE</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I guess that's out of my hands, then.</p>
<p>GhostRobin: ...</p>
<p>GhostRobin: I've been known to make jokes.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: you make snarks</p>
<p>GhostRobin: What's your point?</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: im just excited</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: i feel like this is a milestone somehow</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Right...</p>
<p>Birdarang: Silkies this giant moth larva starfore has as a pet</p>
<p>Birdarang: At first it was weird but honestly its grown on me</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Welcome to the club.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: we should totally get marinette in here</p>
<p>Catastrophe: We should get my friend from school, who doesn't know my secret identity, and invite her specifically to this group chat where we talk about our secret identities?</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: i dunno i feel like you should have at least one school friend who knows your secret identity, like the rest of us</p>
<p>GhostRobin: I don't have one of those.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: titans are close enough</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I mean, if I was gonna have one of those, Marinette would definitely be my pick. She's a great friend and super reliable. In all the time I've known her, she hasn't been Akumatized once.</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Do people really get Akumatized so often that that's remarkable?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: You have no idea. I'm pretty sure we're the only two people in the entire school that haven't been Akumatized, and that's ignoring a huge chunk of Paris.</p>
<p>GhostRobin: ...</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Hmm...</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Yeah?</p>
<p>Birdarang: You got something to share with the class?</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Maybe later. Ghost portal just got another breach. Time to get to work.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: i take back everything i said about macarons btw</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Honestly, the US has a lot of food I really like, but I am missing the Dupain-Cheng bakery, hard.</p>
<p>Birdarang: This your first time in america?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: No, I used to go a bunch when I was little. My father had all kinds of fashion shows here.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Lately he's been sticking close to Paris, though.</p>
<p>Birdarang: Im glad he let you take the trip</p>
<p>Birdarang: Gotta get you in to see amity park sometime</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Oh, totally. I've never seen a real ghost before.</p>
<p>Birdarang: Believe me we got plenty ot those</p>
<p>GhostRobin: You know, for all the ghost problem this town clearly has, I'm having a lot more trouble dealing with the ghost hunters than the ghosts themselves.</p>
<p>Birdarang: t h i s i s m y l i f e</p>
<p>Birdarang: Valeries the most competent but the guys in white are so beyond the most annoying</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Valerie is...?</p>
<p>Birdarang: Red huntress</p>
<p>GhostRobin: That fits. I think you mentioned Vlad Masters provides her gear?</p>
<p>Birdarang: Originally</p>
<p>Birdarang: Im pretty sure technus did something to upgrade it a while after thoigh</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: wait why are the ghost hunters going after you though?</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: HAVE YOU BEEN A GHOST THIS WHOLE TIME</p>
<p>GhostRobin: They're not specifically going after me, but they are explicitly getting in my way.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: you didnt deny it</p>
<p>GhostRobin: Guess that means I'm a ghost, then.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: i dont know if i appreciate this sass</p>
<p>GhostRobin changed name to SassRobin</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: okay now i definitely dont appreciate it</p>
<p>Birdarang: Hey we should add the titans to the chat</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: and ladybug</p>
<p>SassRobin: Right, because the biggest issue with this groupchat is that there just aren't enough people.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: How could you even call it a groupchat with only four people?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: You know what I would call this?</p>
<p>SassRobin: I feel like you're ramping into a pun...</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Please, I would never tell a pun on pawpose.</p>
<p>Birdarang: You had purr right there you know</p>
<p>Birdarang: You could have said purrpose you chose not to</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I'll have you know, when it comes to cat puns...</p>
<p>SassRobin: If you say you're the 'cat's meow,' you're gonna get kicked.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I'm the kitten's purr. (edited)</p>
<p>SassRobin: You're on thin ice, is what you are.</p>
<p>Birdarang: @SassRobin starfire made glurk scales</p>
<p>SassRobin: Red bottle.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: this swap is going great</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Bolo</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I am loving the comment section, you guys. It's fantastic</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After facing off against aliens, killer robots, gods, time traveling super soldiers, wizards, giant animals, living people who exploded, and an unreasonable amount of people wearing Iron Man suits he designed, Tony Stark decided he wasn't going to be surprised anymore. There was no aspect of the universe, no concept that was off the table for him to meet and eventually fight. So why waste time on surprise, when he could skip straight to sarcastic quips and dodging energy blasts?</p>
<p>A boy dressed in entirely black leather, complete with matching ears and tail, slammed onto the hood of the car Happy was driving, forcing Tony to look up from his tablet.</p>
<p>Okay, so maybe there were exceptions to the surprise thing.</p>
<p>With a kip up back to his feet that made Tony's core hurt just to look at it, the boy extended a silver staff into the ground, shooting him upwards so he could spin into a devastating kick to the side of Electro's face.</p>
<p>"Happy," Tony began, watching the exchange between the apparent superhero and supervillain. "Did a black leather catboy just fall from the sky?"</p>
<p>"Off the record?" Happy asked.</p>
<p>Tony gave a shrug. "Sure."</p>
<p>"Yes."</p>
<p>The Iron Man slowly absorbed the new information, watching the fight continue until Electro succumbed to blunt force trauma-induced unconsciousness and the boy picked him up with one hand to drop him in front of a nearby police station before shooting away on his silver staff.</p>
<p>With a few taps of his phone, Tony began a call, holding it up to his ear. Honestly, there were far too many people he knew that could be to blame for what he just saw, but somehow only one name came to mind. "Call redirected to suit receiver," Friday informed him.</p>
<p>"Mister Stark?" Since he was picking up from his suit, Tony supposed it was Spiderman that was answering.</p>
<p>Still, "Peter, what did you do?"</p>
<p>There was some muffled French in the background that Tony couldn't immediately parse, though the words 'rescue,' 'fire,' and 'trap,' made concerning appearances.</p>
<p>"Uh, could you be more specific?" Peter asked, sounds of whistling through the air and crashing through glass audible despite the noise-cancelling microphone the suit had.</p>
<p>"Are you in France?" Tony asked suddenly.</p>
<p>There was a pause on the other end that stretched a little too long. "...yes?"</p>
<p>Tony sighed, taking his sunglasses off and rubbing the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Why are you in France?"</p>
<p>"The swap? I sent you an email about it." The evil cackle in the background wasn't difficult to translate from French.</p>
<p>"Did you send it to my work email or personal email?" Tony asked next, as the sounds of what appeared to be jangling chains could be heard from Peter's end.</p>
<p>"Work," Peter confirmed.</p>
<p>So that left, "and you used your work email so it would get past my spam filter, right?"</p>
<p>There was another long pause. "...no?"</p>
<p>"Call me back when you're not in imminent danger," Tony said with a sigh, and with the assurance that he would, the call ended.</p>
<p>"Are we changing destinations, Sir?" Happy asked once the streets began moving again after the brief super-fight.</p>
<p>Tony considered it for a moment, but shook his head. "Nah, the kid's got a handle on it. As long as nothing's on fire, I'll wait on his explanation."</p>
<p>Happy nodded and continued driving in silence for a few minutes.</p>
<p>"Sir?" He asked, eventually.</p>
<p>"Yeah?"</p>
<p>Happy's face was the picture of nervous bemusement. "How do you know nothing's on fire?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Everything was on fire.</p>
<p>For the daughter of two bakery owners, Marinette considered herself well-versed in fire safety. For a superhero with strangely limited experience in fire based Akuma's, on the other hand, it was nice to have someone on deck with slightly more experience in rescuing people from burning buildings.</p>
<p>"Oh, yeah, I'm pretty much an expert on fires. If there's a fire back in New York, you can pretty much guarantee I'm in the middle of it," Spiderman said, a statement Ladybug found only slightly more reassuring than concerning.</p>
<p>She wasn't entirely sure where the fact everything he said went through a synthetic translator because he couldn't speak French tipped the scales.</p>
<p>In any case, Ladybug set Spiderman to rescuing civilians, and went about recruiting Carapace to help with the fight. Something told her having a shield around could be helpful, not just for the fire, but for Spiderman, too.</p>
<p>He tended to get hit... a lot.</p>
<p>Nothing against Spiderman, of course, honestly, having a superhero with a few more options in a situation than 'make a waffle iron' and 'destroy something' was refreshing to say the least. But it became apparent fairly early on that his approach to combat differed from their's a bit.</p>
<p>Most notably, Spiderman tended to rush forward in situations Ladybug and Chat Noir would often back off, which actually ended quite a few Akuma attacks ridiculously quickly, but just as often led to him getting absolutely flattened by the newest strength-enhanced foe.</p>
<p>If it weren't for Lucky Charm's reset powers, she couldn't imagine the amount of pain he'd be under on a day-to-day basis. How on Earth did he manage it back in America?</p>
<p>Though, for that matter, how on Earth was Chat Noir managing in America?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chat Noir was doing surprisingly well, all things considered.</p>
<p>Ned Leeds sat in his darkened room, Seven-Eleven Slurpee beside him, computer in front of him, and a direct line to a superhero that wasn't even from his country attached to his headset.</p>
<p>All in all, life was good.</p>
<p>"Incoming cars and by the looks of it, they're not actually police," he informed the cat-crusader, taking a long sip of his drink.</p>
<p>"You know, Ned, one of these days we're gonna fight bank robbers that don't have backup, and that'll be a fun day," Chat Noir chirped back, gunshots ringing in the background.</p>
<p>It was funny, to Ned, how Chat and Peter were almost as similar as they were different when it came to superheroing. They both talked a lot in the middle of a fight, both did cool jumps and flips to dodge things and take people out, and they both cared more about saving people than catching badguys.</p>
<p>The difference in the first one tended to be while Spiderman did a bunch of quips on the people he was fighting and observations on what was going on, Chat Noir tended more to... wordplay.</p>
<p>"Your aim is really a-paw-ling," Chat Noir taunted, gunshots ringing more furiously a moment after. "Then again, I am very cat-hletic."</p>
<p>Puns. Chat Noir did puns.</p>
<p>Which was weird for Ned, because normally Spiderman was on the receiving end for puns. Peter would show up, the villain would say two hundred bug puns, get arrested, and everyone would go home.</p>
<p>Now it was reversed, or occasionally a pun back and forth between the villain and Chat, which was usually a good time for Ned to stand up, stretch his legs, and maybe grab something from the fridge, so he didn't always have to be there for eighty cat puns a minute.</p>
<p>He was pretty sure he'd started hearing them in his sleep.</p>
<p>In any case, that was just the way Chat did things: almost like Spiderman, but different.</p>
<p>Though that was never more apparent than the way he fought. Ned had been watching news footage, security cameras, even saw him fight in person once and it was... strange.</p>
<p>Oh, he attacked, all right. He kicked, and punched, used his staff, and even clawed people once or twice, but that was never his go-to. It was always more of a finisher, for him. To start off, he usually disarmed them, blocked them off to one area, then used pieces of the enviroment to try to catch them. It was like watching a cat make a mousetrap, both literally and in the sense that it made sense while making absolutely no sense.</p>
<p>Did that make sense?</p>
<p>Thankfully, the last part was where Peter and Chat were most similar: for people with spider and destruction powers, they both worked insanely hard to make sure no innocents got hurt in their fights. Ned was a bit surprised at the lengths Chat went to for that, actually, since he was pretty sure his partner back in Paris had the ability to reset any injuries from an attack. It would be easy to let people get hurt and just have her reverse it once everything was over, but apparently Chat didn't do that.</p>
<p>Still, Peter must have been feeling pretty good, able to do his normal getting thrown through walls thing but without feeling any of it after. Reset powers had to be great.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Reset powers were the best.</p>
<p>It was a decision Marinette had come to long before, but the fact she didn't even need to get the smell of smoke out of her clothes, forget all the third degree burns, was worth any bad day Hawkmoth could throw at her.</p>
<p>Tying her apron around her waist, she hugged her dad and set about helping him with what would become the afternoon's batch of freshly baked bread, made just in time for people to buy before dinner. She probably could have seen it as going from work to work, superheroing to baking, but with the way she and her dad talked, the tune he'd whistle as they worked, the calming press of her palms into the dough, it never felt much like work.</p>
<p>Being a superhero was difficult, making beautiful, delicious, loaves of bread was difficult, but work? How could she call it work when it was the only time she got to see Chat? How could she call it work when it was as much a bonding time for her and her dad as their family video game nights were?</p>
<p>She sighed, working the dough some more. Now she was arguing with no one about bread.</p>
<p>"Something wrong, sweetie?" Her dad asked, not quite turning away from the dough to face her, but not looking away either.</p>
<p>"No, I'm alright," she insisted. "Just wish someone had stuck around during the break besides," Chloe, Lila, and Kagami? "Well, instead of going on vacation," she finished.</p>
<p>It really seemed like almost her entire school decided to skip town on the same day. Even Chat was gone for a while, though at least he left behind a substitute.</p>
<p>The bell above the door rang, announcing the presence of a new customer. After dusting her flour covered hands on her apron for a moment, Marinette went out to meet them.</p>
<p>Ah, she thought as she caught sight of the customer. Speaking of Americans...</p>
<p>"Bonjour, Marinette," he greeted with a wave and a big smile. His French really had improved. "Como tally voo?"</p>
<p>Really... it had.</p>
<p>"Bonjour, Peter," she said back, switching to her serviceable, if slightly stilted, English a moment after. "Did you like the Louvre?"</p>
<p>At a glance, Peter Parker was like any other seasonal American tourist, just there to see the sights over break somewhere 'exotic' like Paris. But it didn't take much casual conversation when he first walked into the bakery for her to determine that he was... well, of a different flavor.</p>
<p>"Oh, it was great," he enthused. "An old German lady lost her kid right outside, and I can't speak German, but nobody around could either, so we worked out a sort of picture communication thing with the paint app on my phone, she's actually a really good artist, so then I was going around with her showing the picture to people and asking if anyone had seen her, but not a lot of people know English, and I can't speak French, so then there was a guy who didn't speak German, but spoke French and English, and we used him to ask people if they'd seen the German lady's kid, and finally we found him. Super heartwarming reunion, too."</p>
<p>Marinette raised an amused eyebrow. "And the Louvre?"</p>
<p>"Oh..." he scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed. "The whole thing with the kid took too long, so I didn't get to go inside before it closed."</p>
<p>This was Peter Parker. Messy, loud, honestly a bit scatterbrained, but so steadfastly earnest in his desire to help people, it was hopelessly endearing.</p>
<p>"Now I understand what my friends were talking about," she sighed, putting a box of macarons together before handing it across the counter to him. "I think my 'everyday Ladybug' title is in trouble, with you around."</p>
<p>He took it, opening it up right there and biting into a macaron. "Everyday Ladybug?"</p>
<p>"Just something my classmates call me. It's a little joke, that's all." She checked behind him, but there weren't any other customers waiting, so no real reason she couldn't keep talking to him.</p>
<p>"Oh, I think Adrien mentioned that, actually. It's cause you're so helpful and nice, right?" He took another bite of macaron.</p>
<p>Marinette paused, slowly turning toward him as she worked through the English in her head. No, he definitely said what she thought he said. "You know Adrien Agreste?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>MJ knew Adrien Agreste wasn't one of Peter's normal friends. He was a 'Stark Friend,' and those normally meant trouble.</p>
<p>Not, to be clear, that she minded trouble. Really, the sheer amount of trouble Peter Parker caused her and all the people around him was one of the things that interested her the most about him.</p>
<p>By all accounts, Peter was an awkward dweeb. The height of excitement for him should have been watching anime on his laptop and building branded Lego sets too complicated to reasonably still be called a toy for children.</p>
<p>This, though, all the Stark Internship, secret projects, sudden trips to foreign countries, it was like he was overnight abducted into the James Bond program.</p>
<p>So that left the question, was Adrien Agreste, who claimed to be one of those infamous 'Stark Friends,' actually a friend, or some kind of enemy spy?</p>
<p>She used the term spy to match with the James Bond metaphor, he probably wasn't a literal spy. Though, given the Shield/Hydra fiasco plastered over a good ninety percent of the forums she frequented, spies were definitely not discounted in her assessment.</p>
<p>She'd need to find a subtle way to needle the information out of him. Adrien was obviously a rich, well spoken, confident, person, so it would take all of her socially awkward, neurotic, deadpan to match him.</p>
<p>"Cool." She turned back to her book.</p>
<p>That's fine, MJ, you weren't really curious anyway, she sarcastically scolded herself in her head.</p>
<p>Adrien uncertainly scratched the back of his head for a moment before sitting down across from her. "Cards on the Table?" He asked.</p>
<p>Her eyes flicked up for a moment before returning to the book. "You know it?"</p>
<p>"We had to read Ils Etaint Dix for class, but it was one of my classmates that got me into the rest. Cards on the Table is an... interesting one in the series, to say the least." At Michelle's gaze lifting from the book, he continued. "The idea that Poirot can determine so much in personality, situation, from something so simple as the way they marked down their bridge points, it's a little hard to believe."</p>
<p>MJ took that as a challenge. "Do you really think so?" She reached into her bag and pulled out a notebook and a pencil, flipping it to a blank page before handing both to him. "Write something down, anything at all."</p>
<p>With a shrug, Adrien accepted, jotting down a few song lyrics that had been stuck in his head for a while, then passing it back to her.</p>
<p>MJ looked it over, examining the handwriting, which was immaculate, the spacing of the lettering, and the French she, technically, couldn't understand a word of.</p>
<p>"You're from Paris," she began, still peering closely at the notebook page, "a very upperclass portion of Paris, to be specific. You attend a regular high school, but were homeschooled before that. Your career is something physical, appearance based. Actor doesn't really fit, so I want to say model? In your free time you do fencing, rock climbing, and video games." She flipped the notebook closed with a smirk. "How did I do?"</p>
<p>He stared, flabbergasted. "That's incredible. How did you do that?"</p>
<p>She opened her book again, returning to reading. "Not so unbelievable now, is it?"</p>
<p>His hands went up just as a smile lifted his face. "I admit defeat. That was très impressionnant."</p>
<p>"Thanks, I think." Still couldn't speak French.</p>
<p>"How did you figure all that out? If you don't mind my asking." He reached out and she handed him back the notebook so he could peer at what he'd written, attempting to glean the same knowledge from it.</p>
<p>"Oh, it's actually a really simple process," she explained. "All I had to do was take out the notebook and pencil, hand them to you, then text Peter about you while you were writing something down."</p>
<p>Adrien opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again but still no sound came out. "You..." he finally managed. "I can see why Peter wanted me to meet you."</p>
<p>"Of course you can," she answered, flatly. "I'm the best."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>'I'm the best,' was a sentiment Lila Rossi had decided about herself some time ago, and while the objective veracity of the claim was... disputable, it was one she believed in wholeheartedly.</p>
<p>It was from this and a particular warping of logic from which Lila's seemingly neverending parade of lies came. That logic being: 'I am the best, therefore any claims made to assert that must naturally be true on principle, if not in fact.' Or, to put it another way, the details of any lie she told weren't important so long as the essence of her superiority was received in the message.</p>
<p>If Bruce Banner ever heard of such an insane twisting of logic, the odds of him remaining in his forcefully appointed position as Tony Stark's psychiatrist would become impossibly low.</p>
<p>But, though for who's benefit it's difficult to say, that information had thus far never been communicated outside of Lila Rossi's mind. So, from an outside perspective, Lila was a compulsive liar for no other reason than manipulation and amusement.</p>
<p>Her fervent, almost megalomaniacal, desire to ruin Marinette Dupain-Cheng's life might unofficially be considered the third option in that list.</p>
<p>The bell above the Dupain-Cheng bakery's front entrance rang nearly off its hook as she slammed the door open and walked inside. Normally, she wouldn't set foot near the place, but with most of her classmates gone during the break, this was the place she was most likely to find Marinette during the day, and since her usual set of gullible drones slash witnesses were busy during the break, tormenting Marinette was an excellent timekiller.</p>
<p>Hmm, Timekiller wasn't a bad Akuma name, come to think of it. Maybe she'd suggest it to Hawkmoth next time they talked.</p>
<p>Marinette was talking to a customer in English. Her accent was dreadful, but no surprise there, Lila thought. Still, as she approached the counter and heard their discussion back and forth, they were being far too friendly with each other. Not just a regular customer, then: good to know.</p>
<p>"Hey, Marinette," she greeted with well practiced English. "Care to introduce me to your friend here?"</p>
<p>Marinette's expression deliciously soured as soon as Lila announced her presence. "Peter Parker," she ground out through clenched teeth, "this is Lila Rossi."</p>
<p>"Oh, nice to meet you." He held out a hand.</p>
<p>"Enchanté." Seeing Marinette's face twist up even further when she took it had Lila suppressing a laugh. Really, it was embarrassing how thin-skinned she was. "You're American, right? I spent several years in America, you know. Whereabouts are you from?"</p>
<p>"Queens." He considered for a moment before adding, "that's in New York, I don't know how specific you wanted me to be there..."</p>
<p>"What a coincidence, I lived in New York City," she preened. "I met Captain America, you know."</p>
<p>"Really? That's awesome. I hear he's a great guy." His tone was politely interested, but not as blown away as she wanted.</p>
<p>She pushed further. "Iron Man, too."</p>
<p>That piqued his interest. "Yeah?"</p>
<p>"In fact," a smirk slipped through as she tried to force back the manic grin she felt coming on, "Tony Stark made me his personal assistant."</p>
<p>The exact wording of Peter's response was later deleted and completely scrubbed from Karen's memory. The cloud server that normally housed backups of the recordings the Spiderman suit made suffered a break-in and any copies of the scene were irrevocably corrupted.</p>
<p>The only indication Tony Stark had that an interaction occurred was a strange handwritten apology from a girl he'd never heard of, and a report from Pepper Potts that she had received a similar note.</p>
<p>Marinette spent a good portion of that night with a French to English dictionary, in an effort to figure out just what words could make someone like Lila Rossi turn so completely white, her English not being quite good enough to understand everything as it happened.</p>
<p>By the time the break had ended and the other students returned, Lila had recovered her usual glib bravado, but Marinette privately considered the week or so where Lila completely avoided her and the bakery, to be one of her favorites.</p>
<p>In a later interview, when asked his opinion on several fellow superheroes who utilized excessive profanity, Spiderman refused to comment.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Ascot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Getting close to the end of this round. As far as I can tell, we've got one more chapter and then, hopefully, we'll see each other again in the sequel (gonna need your help with that, so stay tuned).</p>
<p>This has been an absolute blast to do, so thank you all for reading and commenting on this strange, strange, work.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fighting the new boy, this 'Robin', Skulker considered, was not nearly as fun as hunting the ghost boy. Sure, he was competent enough, but he was also just a measly human, no great prize for his collection. Besides that, it was clear from his methods and tools that Robin was a hunter, like him, and honestly he considered hunting other hunters to be bad form unless they were particularly rare specimens. No, after a few scattered spars, Skulker decided hunting Robin was a lost cause.</p>
<p>Robin's friends were another story.</p>
<p>He had caught whiffs of them on the air when Robin had passed by, their scent clinging to the boy wonder's multicolored cape, and realized that whatever species they were, he couldn't recognize them. Now there was a hunt worth having.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, until the little bird flew back home, he was stuck just watching him. Watching someone he wasn't hunting, Skulker discovered, was incredibly boring.</p>
<p>"Whatcha doing?" Ember asked, appearing beside him with a suddenness that was far too practised for a non-hunter, and was she chewing on some vile human food? Disgusting.</p>
<p>"I am carefully stalking this Robin, so he can lead me to his nest," Skulker explained, gruffly.</p>
<p>"Neat," Ember responded with no real enthusiasm. After a moment, she took another bite of-</p>
<p>"What is that?" He gestured wildly to the partially chewed item in her hand.</p>
<p>Her eyes trailed down to the object for a moment, before returning to him. "I dunno." She shrugged. "Took it off some kid." With that question decidedly not answered, she took another bite.</p>
<p>Skulker pinched the bridge of his nose between two mechanical fingers, shaking his head in exasperation. "Do you even know if that's food?"</p>
<p>Ember's exasperation rose to match his as she rolled her eyes. "Who cares? What's it gonna do, kill me?"</p>
<p>Ugh. Ember's tendency toward morbidity could be trying at times. Yes, they were dead, but honestly that just made his hunting better, there was no need to be so bitter about the whole thing. He held out a hand. "Give it here."</p>
<p>Ember drew back, clutching it protectively. "What? No."</p>
<p>"That could be the power core to an anti-ghost weapon," Skulker accused, trying to reach toward it again. "Who knows what it'd do to your insides?"</p>
<p>She held it up some more, still out of his reach. "Or maybe it's a candy bar-ow, get off." She started kicking him, taking more bites out of spite.</p>
<p>"Ow, Ember, gah, stop eating it." Skulker kept trying to reach for it, but through some combination of natural height and supernatural flight, she kept it out of his hands.</p>
<p>It was at this point, Robin's gaze was firmly locked on the two ghosts. He already had a sort of ghost-radar outfitted onto his utility belt, so knowing they were there before wasn't an issue, but after their loud argument and ensuing scuffle, they were drawing more than a few eyes in their direction.</p>
<p>A half eaten cellphone skidded across the dirt to land at Robin's feet.</p>
<p>Ghosts were weird.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Beast Boy didn't have a lot of experience with ghosts, so he couldn't really say 'all ghosts were weird.' Danny totally was, though. Kind of disturbingly weird, which normally would be bad, but with the Teen Titans just meant it felt like he'd always been there.</p>
<p>If some mad scientist, and they'd fought a few so it wasn't outside the scope of possibility, had taken bits from every other Titan and merged them together into one crazy Titan mix clone, that would be Danny Phantom.</p>
<p>Raven's phase-y ghost powers, that was obvious, but he had something like her deadpan sarcasm, too.</p>
<p>"You've gotta be kidding me," Danny groaned as he phased Cyborg through a large chunk of falling rubble. "This is the guy tearing up the city?"</p>
<p>Control Freak laughed maniacally, whatever method he used to grow to giant size more highlighting his unwashed hair and pimply face than giving him any real intimidation factor.</p>
<p>Raven did the same for Beast Boy and Starfire. "What he lacks in upper body strength, cleanliness, combat skill, or a workable plan, he more than makes up for in..."</p>
<p>"Patheticness?" Danny offered.</p>
<p>Raven considered for a moment. "I was going to say size, but yeah, let's go with that."</p>
<p>His ecto blasts were pretty much the same as Starfire's energy beams, color included, and from her he'd apparently inherited her titanium stomach. There were one or two more exotic Tamaranian foods everyone else knew to avoid by then that gave him some trouble, but everything else was on the table.</p>
<p>Well, sometimes it leaped off the table and started crashing around the room, but eventually he ate that too.</p>
<p>"Heading for ya, Danny," Cyborg shouted as the alien bird-like creature that was supposed to be dinner soared through the air toward him.</p>
<p>"Ugh, the deja vu," Danny winced, transforming into the phantom so he could fly to meet it, hands glowing with ectoblasts. "Dinner, prepare to be precooked."</p>
<p>From Beast Boy, he had a bit of shapeshifting, changing his body not to fit a certain animal, but just to shift and stretch beyond what was natural. That, paired with his tendency to watch too much TV and make really stupid jokes seemed Beast Boy enough.</p>
<p>"House," Cyborg guessed.</p>
<p>"The uppermost section of the house," Starfire added.</p>
<p>Raven raised an eyebrow. "Ceiling? Attic?"</p>
<p>Cyborg snapped his fingers. "Roof."</p>
<p>"Cat on a hot tin roof," Raven got a moment later.</p>
<p>Beast Boy hopped off of Danny's back, transforming back from his green and black feline form at the conclusion of their latest 'Shapeshifter Charades' game.</p>
<p>"Well done by all," Starfire clapped.</p>
<p>Raven sighed, turning to Danny. "Was the face really necessary?"</p>
<p>Danny put his hand to his cleft chin, the chiseled jaw and pronounced lips completing the 'hot' section of 'Cat on a hot tin roof,' as he considered the question.</p>
<p>"Yes," he answered.</p>
<p>His ice powers, the blasts themselves and his ghost sense, matched up nicely with Cyborg's sonic cannon and sensor system, and as it turned out, Danny was a huge space nerd who wanted to be an astronaut, so the two of them talked about that a bunch.</p>
<p>Actually, with half the team being extraterrestrial in some capacity, space tended to come up a lot in random conversations, Danny's astronaut thing just added to it.</p>
<p>"I can now officially ask for directions in four alien languages," Danny announced, ecstatic. "Ship me off to space. I'm ready."</p>
<p>Finally, from Robin he got his default fighting style, which tended to be a lot of punching, and the ability to make workable plans on the fly, which was something the rest of the Titans... still needed to work on.</p>
<p>"Come on, Raven. It'll be great," Beast Boy pleaded, slowly approaching with the disguise.</p>
<p>"If you take one step closer with that wig, you'll be tasting it for days," Raven warned, her fist glowing with a monochrome tint.</p>
<p>Danny raised a hand. "Hey, why don't I just turn everyone invisible, and sneak inside that way?"</p>
<p>As they walked invisibly into the secure compound, Beast Boy grumbled that the disguises, "totally would've worked," with Starfire patting him comfortingly on the back while the rest of the titans ignored him.</p>
<p>The point was, while Danny was far from the only Honorary Titan, this was the first time anyone had clicked so well with the team since... well, since Terra.</p>
<p>That was a mood killer.</p>
<p>"Hey, Beast Boy," Danny's hand landed on his shoulder. "You good?"</p>
<p>Beast Boy nodded, taking a moment before smiling up at the boy. "Yeah, I'm good." He raised a controller, shaking it slightly. "Best two out of three?"</p>
<p>Danny laughed, taking his own controller in hand. "Let's say six out of ten, that way I might have a ghost of a chance figuring out how to beat you."</p>
<p>Cyborg shook his head disapprovingly as he walked into the room, soda in hand. After taking a slow sip, he pointed a finger at Danny. "That pun was straight up awful, man."</p>
<p>"Well that's just harsh," Danny shot back, and by the widening of his grin Cyborg knew he'd made a mistake, giving him an opening. "I've been dying to tell that one."</p>
<p>Raven had chosen that moment to walk into the room, choosing the moment right after she heard the pun to walk out again.</p>
<p>Danny thought that was fair.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This was so unfair. Valerie Gray, fully decked out in her Red Huntress ghost fighting gear, floated alongside the multicolored superhero that shouldn't have been in town, why was he in town?</p>
<p>She wasn't some superhero fangirl, sending in her club card and paying her dues to get the latest collectible poster, but she was also a teenager in the modern world so of course she had a favorite superhero.</p>
<p>It was Gambit, but Robin was up there too.</p>
<p>So when the actual leader of the Teen Titans, former sidekick to Batman, honest to goodness Robin showed up in Amity Park where she could fight alongside him as some kind of peer, it should have been one of the best things ever. Except, he was all buddy-buddy with Phantom, because of course he was.</p>
<p>So unfair.</p>
<p>"You didn't have to come along." How did Robin get his voice to travel so well while parkouring over rooftops? Valerie always ended up having to shout, even when just flying on her board.</p>
<p>Case in point. "You can't keep me out of ghost hunting that way, super-tourist," and wasn't it weird to be able to say that to a decorated superhero.</p>
<p>"Do you r-" there was a grunt as something slammed into Robin, knocking him off the roof.</p>
<p>A slow, southern drawl creeped through the air. "Practicing vigilante justice outside your jurisdiction." Walker shimmered into view. "That's against the rules."</p>
<p>Valerie darted back, her hoverboard matching the action. She'd heard about Walker before, but it was all secondhand. Since he hardly ever left the Ghost Zone, she'd never had to fight him, personally.</p>
<p>Well, there was a first time for everything.</p>
<p>With a flick of her wrist, she clicked her internal blaster into its armed position and shot at Walker before he'd even finished dropping out of invisibility. Unfortunately, he shifted into a green mist and teleported even faster than that.</p>
<p>"Really?" She yelled at nothing. "He can teleport, are you serious?"</p>
<p>"Deadly serious, little lady," Walker's voice came from above before an ectoblast smashed against her head, dropping her ten or twenty feet before she regained her balance. "And attempted battery on a law enforcement officer? That's against the rules, too."</p>
<p>A whizzing blade, almost invisible against the night sky, shot toward Walker, who managed to teleport out of the way just in time for it to miss him. Unfortunately, he teleported directly into the path of another blade, which exploded on impact, blasting him out of the sky.</p>
<p>"New game, Walker," Robin announced, flipping back onto the roof and showing off a small red box, within which a host of what must have been Walker's wardens was kept. "Your rules don't apply."</p>
<p>Gambit was Valerie's favorite superhero. He was nice, fun, he had such a destructive power and he still used it to protect people, to help. He'd even saved her father on a business trip he took once. When she put on her Red Huntress gear, when she rode out into the night to protect everyone she loved, her father, her friends, Danny; Gambit was everything she strived to be. Still...</p>
<p>Robin was definitely up there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Oh yeah, Robin's definitely up there." Jinx lowered the electronic binoculars looking at Titans Tower before tossing them to the side, the device already shorting out from contact with her powers. "Let's move."</p>
<p>Gizmo followed along behind her, his four mechanical spider legs doing the walking so he didn't have to. Unfortunately, this gave him plenty of time to complain. "This is stupid," he griped. "Why didn't the crud-muncher come out to fight Slade, if he's been here the whole time?"</p>
<p>"Doesn't make a lotta sense," Mammoth agreed. "He likes fighting Slade more'n he likes fighting us."</p>
<p>Jinx sighed at her friends, slash teammates, slash lackeys. "Gizmo, can you list the top three reasons a superhero would be missing in a fight? I know it's been a while since Advanced Criminology at Hive Academy, but try your best."</p>
<p>Gizmo shot her a glare at the patronizing tone, but did as she asked anyway. "Defected to the villain's side."</p>
<p>The eye roll she gave at that was one of her favorites. "This is Robin we're talking about? Zod could pop out of the Phantom Zone right in front of him and offer him an apprenticeship, he'd still turn it down."</p>
<p>"Secret infiltration mission," Gizmo suggested next, a standard in the villainous curriculum, for all the good it did them against Stone.</p>
<p>"Been there, done that, didn't work." Jinx's tone was icy as she shot the idea down. "Besides, if he's not Red X-ing it up with Slade, who would he be trying to infiltrate? No matter what Killer Moth's up to this week, I don't think it compares to..." she snapped her fingers at Mammoth, "what was Slade's plan this time, again?"</p>
<p>Mammoth scratched his head for a moment before answering. "I think it was sinking the city into the ocean? I dunno, I don't watch the news."</p>
<p>She waved a hand, dismissively. "Yeah, that sounds about right. No way Robin's undercover somewhere seeing what Mumbo's up to while that was going down. So that just leaves...?"</p>
<p>Mammoth and Gizmo traded glances before turning back to her and shrugging.</p>
<p>"It's a wonder any of you graduated," she grumbled, sourly.</p>
<p>"We cheated to pass all our classes, like everyone else," Gizmo snapped back. "What are you, on the villain honor roll?"</p>
<p>"Stole and memorized all the test answers?" She smirked. "Efficient and untraceable, mister still-in-the-crib notes."</p>
<p>Mammoth grabbed Gizmo's backpack before he could launch himself at Jinx. "Are you gonna say the answer or not?"</p>
<p>"The third most likely reason a hero would miss a fight is if they were sick, injured, lost their memories, or were otherwise incapacitated," Jinx elucidated, snidely. "So if Robin wasn't at the fight..." she gestured widely toward Titan's Tower.</p>
<p>Mammoth nodded. "He's up there."</p>
<p>She did the same. "Definitely."</p>
<p>Gizmo slammed his fist into his other hand, an action that may have been intimidating if he wasn't only barely bigger than a breadbox. "And if the fart-sniffer's too sick to fight Slade, he's too sick to fight us."</p>
<p>"Gentleman." Jinx smiled widely. "Who wants to take out a Titan?"</p>
<p>At the pair's enthusiastic agreement, the Hive graduates made their way to Titans Tower and broke their way inside. Whichever doors Gizmo couldn't hack, Mammoth broke, and whichever ones Mammoth couldn't break, Jinx destroyed or short circuited enough for the other two to get through. She could gripe all she wanted about their personal issues, but Jinx had to admit they were an effective team.</p>
<p>They took the elevator, thankfully not broken by Mammoth or Jinx just yet, up to where they remembered the Titans' rooms were the last time they'd popped in for a 'visit,' and split up to look for any Titans left behind to keep track of Robin. Tactics 101: take out the doctor, then nurse, then patient, every time. But after searching around for a few minutes, they couldn't find hide nor hair of any of the Titans, Robin included.</p>
<p>Confidence undeterred, however, the trio made their way to Robin's room and its absurdly reinforced design. Once it was clear Gizmo would be trying to crack it for a while, Mammoth and Jinx split up to raid the fridge and start breaking expensive video game systems, respectively.</p>
<p>It was when Jinx was reaching into game cases to rip up the cover art, the one she was holding flew out of her hand and toward Gizmo, narrowly missing his head by a couple inches.</p>
<p>"Hey, watch what you're doing, crudhead," Gizmo shouted. "I'm trying to focus, here."</p>
<p>Jinx stuck her tongue out at him in response before turning back to the game cases and shrugging the event off as her powers doing their regular unpredictable thing. Still, she left the cases, deciding instead to see how many handprints she could get on the massive TV screen up against the wall.</p>
<p>It was only when the entire pizza Mammoth was about to eat got catapulted toward Jinx, they collectively acknowledged they might have missed someone in their search.</p>
<p>"I don't get it," Mammoth groaned. "We checked every room."</p>
<p>"Whoever it is, isn't showing up on any of the security feeds, either." As a rule, Gizmo didn't like his attention being split between trying to hack open a door and checking the building for life signs, but the opportunity to take down any Titan, much less the leader, trumped any amount of minor annoyances.</p>
<p>Or at least, that's what he thought.</p>
<p>Before they could investigate further, the game cases Jinx had been messing with earlier, as well as a host of old pizza boxes that hadn't yet been taken out by the trash began floating and spinning in the air.</p>
<p>In the center of the maelstrom, a blue skinned man with similarly colored overalls rose from the ground. All the floating objects stilled in the air for a moment as he breathed in to give his ghastly declaration.</p>
<p>"Beware!"</p>
<p>Jinx slapped a hand to her forehead. "You have got to be kidding me."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He had to be kidding, that was the assumption Tucker and Sam had when Danny told them about his sudden participation in a superhero group chat. Granted, he was a superhero, as strange as that still was, and the odds of him eventually coming into contact with other superheroes were good enough that it was bound to happen eventually, but in Paris? He was only there for, like, half a day. Less-than, because of travel times.</p>
<p>So, when Robin came to Amity Park and Danny began showing him around, helping him outfit with ghost gear, and telling Sam and Tucker that he'd be shortly traveling to Jump City to work with the Teen Titans, the unreality of it all began to shake Tucker.</p>
<p>When he started living in Sam's house, eating meals there with her and Tucker whenever they were available, bowling or playing video games, and even taking a selfie with Sam to add to her Batman notebook, Tucker felt like he was dreaming.</p>
<p>And when several days before the end of the swap, Sam told him that she hadn't seen Robin at breakfast, or in fact, at any point in the day, Tucker firmly wished he could wake up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Wake up, wake up, my duckies." Danny felt a light slapping on his face, rousing him from slumber. A fact that was particularly odd, considering he never remembered going to sleep.</p>
<p>Danny opened bleary eyes to see a school so close to Casper High, yet undeniably, unnervingly different.</p>
<p>Also, he was strapped to a chair.</p>
<p>The red-headed man with an obnoxious British accent took a step back, beaming past his blue tinted glasses. "Welcome, welcome, welcome, to all our new students."</p>
<p>"Oh, I've got a bad feeling about this," Spiderman groused from the side. Looking left and right, Danny could also see Robin, and Chat there, similarly affixed to their own chairs with a variety of instruments.</p>
<p>"What is going on?" Chat shouted.</p>
<p>"Why, it's the back to school special, my little sprogs." He slammed his jeweled cane into the floor. "Time for you lot to get to learning."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. British Regimental (Part 1)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And we're back! With the three part (because I wrote way too much) stunning conclusion to Black Tux Gang, all being uploaded today, because by gammit, ya'll deserve it.</p>
<p>Speaking of which: got my first ever bit of fanart and it is AMAZING, check it out right here https://novirp13.tumblr.com/post/637108841583181824/that-edited-killed-me-good-d-heres</p>
<p>Now I've got five other places I can put notes here, so I'll catch up in one of those. Until then, here's the handy dandy chat name guide:</p>
<p>Catastrophe - Adrien<br/>SassRobin - Robin<br/>Birdarang - Danny<br/>ChatsReplacement - Peter</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>School was always a mixed bag for Peter Parker. On the one hand, cool science projects, Ned, MJ, on the other hand, not so cool writing assignments, Flash, sitting in classrooms bored out of his mind for hours.</p>
<p>The group chat with the BTG (Black Tux Gang) as Peter had decided to call them in his head, helped significantly with that last one, particularly since Adrien was several hours ahead because of timezone, Danny was usually just as bored as he was, and Robin didn't go to school. Honestly, between Robin and Adrien giving advice on the essays and Danny commiserating about Flash with stories of his own bully, suspiciously named 'Dash,' they helped with the other less-than-fun aspects of school, too.</p>
<p>"Welcome to Biology class," the horrible, raspy, voice of Doctor Connors ran shudders up Peter's spine even as the chair he was strapped to jerked into a horizontal position. As the toothy maw of the Lizard came into view, Pete already had a suspicion what he would say next. "Today, the reptile will be dissecting you."</p>
<p>This wasn't, strictly speaking, normal school, but he hoped the BTG would help him with it anyway.</p>
<p>Honestly, as Peter tested the restraints he was under, it was funny to think how many times he'd been strapped to a table. Was it weird he wasn't as affected by it anymore? The first time it had happened, he'd been squirming and shouting all over the place, but this time it felt like just another day at the office.</p>
<p>He twisted his hands in their cuffs to shoot web at the ceiling, then yanked as hard as he could with his limited movement, slamming the table he was on right into the Lizard's face as he leaned over.</p>
<p>This had the dual purpose of enraging the reptilian doctor enough to tear the table he was on in half, freeing him, and paving the way for one of his famous quips.</p>
<p>"Not even a pair of safety goggles? Sorry, Doc, this lab is so not up to code."</p>
<p>It was possible his quips were famous more for quantity than quality.</p>
<p>The Lizard's response to this, because frankly Lizard wasn't in his top ten most talkative foes, was to grab Spiderman by the ankle, and swing him bodily through the next wall. As his head resurfaced from the pile of rubble that was his not-so-soft landing, Peter rediscovered the joy of fighting a villain while knowing Lucky Charm wasn't going to reset all his injuries.</p>
<p>Wait, did he say joy? He meant it sucked.</p>
<p>Webbing the collapsed wall to slow the Lizard down by roughly half a second, as was standard, Spiderman flipped onto the wall and jumped from there toward a door to exit the classroom he found himself in after his Lizard-assisted demolition job. Unfortunately, as Lizard shredded through the webbing, he managed to slice a decent chunk out of Peter's leg as well, making his daring escape down the hallway more of a persistent limp.</p>
<p>Webbing the hallway to slow down Lizard, check. Webbing the slash marks on his legs to stop the bleeding, check. Figure out where Danny, Adrien, and Robin were?</p>
<p>He looked left and right at the strange, warped, schoolbuilding. Busts lined the walls, apparently of the school's 'headmaster,' the British guy from before, but there were also two other busts, of the Lizard, and boy was that likeness unsettling, and another of a woman Peter didn't recognize.</p>
<p>"Where the heck even are we?" He wondered aloud. If he hadn't seen Chat Noir, Phantom, and Robin also tied to chairs in the bizzare school, he would have figured this was just another Akuma, or maybe one of his villains tracking him down, but the fact they were there too spoke a lot to the confidence this guy had, whoever he was. Somehow, he'd managed to kidnap Peter from Paris, Adrien from New York, Robin from Amity Park, and Danny from Jump City, bring them all the way here, and strap them down to... yeah, he couldn't figure out this guy's evil plan if he tried.</p>
<p>The Lizard tore through his hallway barricade and Spiderman started slinging his way down the hall as fast as he could, trying to trip up the Doctor as he went. When he'd fought him before, he'd been armed with the anti-mutagen to revert him back to a human, and one of those popular inventions of battle called a 'plan.' Definitely did not feel comfortable trying to go head to head with approximately neither of those things, so running it was.</p>
<p>"Now, I know you're not supposed to text and drive, but what's the policy on texting and swinging?" Spiderman commented, rhetorically, fishing his phone out of his pocket and pulling up the chat he already knew would be there.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: okay broke out of my chair but now i got a half ton murder lizard coming after me</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: anyone know whats going on?</p>
<p>SassRobin: His name is Mad Mod.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And he's a real piece of work.</p>
<p>Robin flipped over the latest dodgeball in the manic gym. If the red rubber wasn't delivered at lethal speeds through a series of cannons lining the wall, it could have almost been recognized as a school activity.</p>
<p>"Lift those legs, touch the sky, I wanna see Teen Titans cry," Mad Mod chanted, pom poms included, from a viewscreen that took up the entire left wall.</p>
<p>Robin groaned at the performance, darting forward so he could slap explosive discs on the cannon barrels before the constant barrage wore him out. When the dust settled after the explosion, Mad Mod tutted at him from the viewscreen. "Destruction of school property? Here I thought a returning student might've learned something, but I guess my hopes were just too high."</p>
<p>A massive robot smashed through the wall, one of Mad Mod's mechanical busts at the top like some kind of undersized head. "The hall monitor will show you right to detention, my duckie," Mad Mod said, then added, menacingly. "So you don't get lost on the way."</p>
<p>Robin flipped out of the way of the robot's crushing grip, once, then twice, its mechanical gait never slowing. Extending his staff, all it took was a few pokes to determine he'd need something higher grade to pierce that shell.</p>
<p>The robot stomped, cracks spreading across the gym floor.</p>
<p>Much higher grade.</p>
<p>Kicking off the wall, then off the top of the malignant mech, Robin began sprinting down the hall as the Mad Mod proclaimed 'monitor' gave chase. Taking his phone from its space on his toolbelt and flicking it open to the chat, he began typing as he moved.</p>
<p>SassRobin: @Catastrophe I'm gonna need a Cataclysm sent my way as soon as you can. This bot's not going down to regular attacks and I don't think my explosives are gonna do much either. I'm in the back hallway, looks like it's by the gym and swimming pool, pursued by giant robot.</p>
<p>Birdarang: How do you tyoe that much while actively being chased?</p>
<p>SassRobin: Practice.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Already used my Cataclysm to escape the chair. Until I get my hands on some camembert, I'm gonna be powered down for a while.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: wait so youre just walking around in civvies rn?</p>
<p>Catastrophe: No choice, at the moment. Usually, I carry some around with me just in case, but this guy nabbed me while I was sleeping.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: so youre walking around in pajama civvies</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Exactement.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: do they have little cats on them?</p>
<p>SassRobin: Focus up. @Catastrophe try to track down the cafeteria. The cheese there may not be camembert, but it might do in a pinch. @ChatsReplacement see if you can lure that lizard to the swimming pool; I might have a way to solve both our problems. @Birdarang what's your status?</p>
<p>SassRobin: @Birdarang?</p>
<p>Changing tactics, Mad Mod's 'hall monitor' began launching missiles, blasting Robin off to the side. Smacking into the wall, he only had a moment to clutch his head and try to stop the room from spinning before he needed to duck out of the way of the next round of vicious armaments heading his way.</p>
<p>The phone went back into his toolbelt, replaced by his grappling hook in short order. "Hey, Monitor." He shot the hook into the ceiling, letting the mechanical batrope retract, pulling him along into a flipkick right at the Mad Mod face on its top. "No running in the halls."</p>
<p>Landing into a roll, he began sprinting back the way he came, toward the pool area. The steady clang of the Monitor's footsteps behind him as it pursued was more a comfort than anything. As long as Peter managed to lead his villain the same way, they'd be golden.</p>
<p>At the buzz of the phone in his toolbelt, Robin replaced his grappling hook and opened the groupchat up again, dodging to the side to avoid the latest missile salvo.</p>
<p>Birdarang: Im here soz for the late reply but i just managed to get away from mr personality</p>
<p>Birdarang: Whats the deal with this mad mod guy anyway?</p>
<p>SassRobin: The Titans and I have faced him a few times before. The first time, he flooded the tower with knockout gas and set us up in an underground facility built to look like a school. His robots are tough, but it's his illusions and hypnoscreens you'll really need to watch out for.</p>
<p>Robin scowled down at the screen. Why hadn't he seen any hypnoscreens yet? That seemed to be Mad Mod's main play, so why the deathtraps and monsters? Shaking his head, he typed again.</p>
<p>SassRobin: The Mad Mod you see is just a hologram. The real one's an old man, probably somewhere nearby, controlling this whole mess. Find him and we can shut this place down.</p>
<p>Birdarang: Well i sure hope hes not outside because whatever these outer walls are made of theyre not going down anytime soon</p>
<p>Birdarang: Cant phase through them eithrr</p>
<p>SassRobin: I figured it was something like that. I've already tried contacting the Titans, but no signals are going out. Internet, mapping, this groupchat seems to be the only thing still working, but as long as no signals are going out, that means none can come in, either. Mad Mod's somewhere inside the school, we just have to find him.</p>
<p>Birdarang: Find the creep take him out go home early works for me</p>
<p>Birdarang: Easy</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well, easy on paper, at least.</p>
<p>Danny phased through the floor, thankful that, at least, was permeable to his ghost powers. He'd managed to partially split himself enough to break open the chair he was strapped to, but the thing was solidly immune to his phasing and ectoblasts, and he noticed even in the short time the four of them were in a room together, his chair was made of a different material from the others.</p>
<p>So how did Mad Mod, a Titans villain, get his hands on anti-ghost tech?</p>
<p>The tip of a sword, glowing with pink ecto-energy sliced through the space Danny was in half a moment before. Jumping backward, Danny turned to see the sword's owner, a masked fencer already poised in a battle stance.</p>
<p>"Are you a robot or a person?" Danny asked, floating in the air with his fists already charged with ectoblasts. "Legally, you have to tell me, otherwise it's entrapment."</p>
<p>Rather than responding, they hardly ever responded, Danny noticed, the fencer jabbed forward, beginning its attack.</p>
<p>It was fast, and more precise than most of the enemies he'd fought before. Even the times he'd fought against swords, they were always heavy, built around slashing, but this? Just trying to stay out of its reach seemed to take all of his focus.</p>
<p>There was a sharp, stinging, pain in his shoulder as the rapier found its mark there, Danny just barely too slow to go intangible before it hit.</p>
<p>"Alright, if you're a person, you'd better warn me now, because I'm done holding back," he warned, bringing his hands together and launching a high powered blast directly at the fencer's helmet.</p>
<p>As the helmet clattered to the floor, Danny expected to see one of a few things: either there was a person under the mask, there was a robot and the mask as well as the suit was just a shell for the robotic inner workings, or there was a ghost, since that was kind of his thing and the thermostat in the building was turned so low he probably couldn't have sensed a ghost if he tried. He was not expecting to look inside the suit and find it, "empty?"</p>
<p>The empty suit jabbed at him again, seemingly undeterred by its lack of head, or any other body parts, really.</p>
<p>"Okay. Creepy," he acknowledged, slowly. Passing his hand over the place where its head should have been, even at the cost of almost getting shishkabobbed again, revealed no invisibility. Apparently, it was as empty as it looked.</p>
<p>A few more high-powered ectoblasts tore holes in the suit until finally the empty fencer's garb dropped to the floor, whatever force controlling it suddenly losing its grip, like a puppet with its strings cut.</p>
<p>Picking up the fencing blade, Danny poked the lifeless suit experimentally with it, but it didn't even twitch. Bemused, he opened the chat once again.</p>
<p>Birdarang: Anyone know tge deal on someone who can make empty fencing suits come alive and attack?</p>
<p>SassRobin: I know a few telekinetics who could make that work, but fencing outfits aren't exactly 'on theme,' for them.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: mr stark has a bunch of empty suits?</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: they can move around and attack and all that stuff</p>
<p>Birdarang: Checked the fabric and no electronics its just regular cloth</p>
<p>Birdarang: Figired id ask cause fencing doesnt seem all that on theme for mad mods school deal either</p>
<p>SassRobin: Some of these things just aren't adding up. He kidnapped all of us while we were sleeping in different timezones, which means he had to have done it at different times, but we all woke up at the exact same moment? He blocks all outgoing signals, but the chat still functions? He has all of us separated, strapped to chairs, but he hasn't tried to use a hypnoscreen on us even once, it doesn't make any sense.</p>
<p>SassRobin: Watch your step: I have a feeling the other shoe is about to drop.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Hey, guys? I just found another person trapped inside the school.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Adrien wasn't sure, but that definitely seemed like it qualified as the other shoe dropping.</p>
<p>"What is a student doing here?" The woman whispered, concern etched into her voice. He'd almost attacked her, when she'd suddenly jumped out of the small office she was hiding in and dragged him inside. "There are giant robots, and giant lizards, and regular sized but still crazy British guys out there," she hissed. "There's no way a kid like you could fight against that."</p>
<p>Adrien gently pried her fingers off his arms and placed her hands in her lap, noting the sharp red businesswear she was sporting. "Hey, it's going to be okay, alright?" He reassured her. "My name is Adrien Agreste, what's your name?"</p>
<p>"P-Penny," she said, after a moment.</p>
<p>"It's nice to meet you, Penny," he said, using that same soothing voice he'd often needed as Chat Noir. "Are you hurt anywhere?"</p>
<p>"No, I'm fine." She swallowed, roughly. "I was on my way to my new job at the school, when suddenly that horrible man showed up. The rest is a blur, but I've managed to hide out here, for a while. I mean," she gestured to herself, "I'm not some superhero with amazing powers. If I went out there with nothing, I'd only get myself killed." She chuckled, humorlessly. "Probably get one of those superheroes hurt, too, when they have to try and save me, if they even try."</p>
<p>Adrien felt a pressure at the back of his throat, like a chip of ice, building at the words. "Yeah," he agreed, halfheartedly, before shaking his head and returning his attention to the matter at hand. "Yes. You did a good job, Penny. Stay in here, stay safe. This will all be over soon."</p>
<p>He stood up to go, but her hand caught his sleeve, forcing him to look back. "You're not gonna leave, are you?"</p>
<p>"Just for a little while," he said, patting her hand in the hopes she'd let go. "I still have something I need to do."</p>
<p>"But if you go out there, you'll get killed," she nearly shrieked. "I mean, you're not some kind of superhero, right Adrien Agreste?"</p>
<p>He winced, inwardly. Right, he'd already told her his name. Usually in America, 'random French kid,' was much more difficult to identify than the easily searchable supermodel 'Adrien Agreste.' He opened his mouth to respond, but Penny continued before he could.</p>
<p>"What am I saying? Of course you're not," she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Despite some jokes to the contrary, superheroes don't fight crime in their pajamas."</p>
<p>Adrien looked down at his dark blue shirt and pale green pajama bottoms, having forgotten for a moment that he was wearing them. There was a prickling of embarrassment around his neck, but before he could even offer a rebuttal, Penny pressed further.</p>
<p>"What was your plan going to be? Run out into the hallways, no weapon, no powers, and hope you didn't bump into the likes of the Lizard?" She scoffed. "My words might be a little harsh, but I'm just trying to be realistic, here."</p>
<p>The chip of ice in his throat grew, but Penny wasn't done.</p>
<p>"I mean, without powers, what can you do? You'd just be trapped inside, at the mercy of whatever demented freak runs the place."</p>
<p>An image of Adrien's father came unbidden to his mind, a locked door, that house, so monstrously big, but too small all at once. The cage around him, Sandboy had conjured for him, his nightmare. And without powers? His reality.</p>
<p>He felt faint.</p>
<p>"You're weak," Penny abandoned all pretense of trying to help. "Without that magic ring, you're nothing. Trapped in daddy's house with no escape. No friends. Forever."</p>
<p>Adrien stumbled backward, clutching his head like it could dampen the pounding beat that had taken up residence there. His phone was buzzing, but the feeling was almost indistinguishable in the state he was in, so it took him a few attempts before he could bring it out again and look down at the chat.</p>
<p>Birdarang: ITS A TRAP</p>
<p>SassRobin: What? The person?</p>
<p>Birdarang: Its not a person i found busts of mad mod and the lizard and beside those was one of someone ive fought before</p>
<p>Birdarang: @Catastrophe ITS NOT A PERSON ITS A GHOST</p>
<p>Adrien blinked rapidly as the words swam in his vision, becoming indecipherable.</p>
<p>The last thing he saw before the drain on his energy became too much were Penny's eyes shift to an unnatural, ethereal, red.</p>
<p>Birdarang: HER NAME IS PENELOPE SPECTRA</p>
<p>Adrien blacked out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Peter webbed his phone to his side, dodging out of the way of a tail swipe from the Lizard his spidey-sense warned him about.</p>
<p>He had a feeling Adrien wouldn't be able to come to the phone just then.</p>
<p>So, order of events: he needed to get rid of the Lizard first, then find Adrien, beat Spectra, beat Mad Mod, then probably call Mister Stark so he could give everyone a ride home.</p>
<p>Though, that might require a bit of explanation if the others weren't suited up for that particular conversation. In any case, that was extremely far from important at that moment.</p>
<p>"First floor," he said, swinging down the staircase. "Furniture, electronics, and hopefully the swimming pool."</p>
<p>His spidey-sense went off mid swing, which meant not very many options to avoid good old Doc' Connors’ leaping tackle, complete with almost-facebite. Kicking him off and webbing him to the wall for a moment, bought him enough time to gain distance and hopefully ask Robin for some directio-</p>
<p>"Aw, you took my phone?" He looked back at the Lizard, who had already broken free of his web wrappings, his phone stuck not to his side, as it was supposed to be, but somehow on Connors' labcoat, directly in claw, teeth, and tail reach. "So not cool."</p>
<p>An enormous robot crashed through the wall behind him, Robin flung from its head, flipping off the ground and skidding to a crouched stop right beside Peter. "Spiderman," he acknowledged.</p>
<p>"Robin," Peter did the same. "Pool?"</p>
<p>Robin pointed a finger back through the hole in the wall he and the robot had just created.</p>
<p>"You know where Adr-" Peter shook his head. "Chat Noir is?"</p>
<p>"I have a suspicion," Robin hedged.</p>
<p>"You have a plan for dealing with these two?" The Monitor robot rose up from the rubble crashing through the wall had created, its weapons whirring as they charged up. The Lizard, too, growled in preparation to launch himself forward once again.</p>
<p>Robin smirked. "I always have a plan." The Lizard leapt forward, the Monitor fired missiles, and Robin yelled, "switch," charging at Spiderman's enemy.</p>
<p>It took a moment before Spiderman's head caught up, but in that time, his body was already moving, catching missiles with webbing and throwing them back at the mech, pounding into the metal with its own armaments. It was odd, but Spiderman honestly found it much more comforting to be fighting cold steel and rockets than claws and teeth. As far as threats went, New York had far too many deadly robots compared to killer animals.</p>
<p>Robin, on the other hand, was faring much better against an enemy his kicks and staff strikes could actually hurt, driving Connors past the Monitor and toward the hole where the pool was. Taking the hint, Spiderman began doing the same to his new enemy.</p>
<p>A staff strike under the Lizard's jaw, spinning into a kick in the chest with steel-reinforced boots, Robin sent the Lizard flying back into the chlorine-rich waters of the school's swimming pool. The Lizard could swim in there, even if it wasn't pleasant for him to do so, and he was already navigating his way out, when Spiderman did his part.</p>
<p>Webbing the Monitor's right arm to the back of its left leg, its left arm to the back of its right leg, and finally webbing the bust that sat atop his leg, and pulling back with as much strength as possible, the Monitor stumbled backward, landing right on top of the Lizard in the pool. He could breathe, but even with enhanced strength, the mech left him firmly pinned down, and despite a few twitches from the Monitor, it couldn't move with its arms bound and pinned underwater either.</p>
<p>"Well, you know what they say, Lizzy," Spiderman crouched down next to the furiously squirming Lizard. "Those that can't, teach, and those that can't teach, teach swim."</p>
<p>Somehow, the squirming got even worse, but he still couldn't break out from under the monstrously heavy Monitor.</p>
<p>Spiderman backed up, but after a few moments, he slapped his forehead with a hand. "My phone was on the Lizard."</p>
<p>Both Robin's and his heads turned to the pool.</p>
<p>"Was it waterproo-" Robin started to say.</p>
<p>"No, it wasn't waterproof."</p>
<p>They both turned back to the pool.</p>
<p>"Whoops," Robin said.</p>
<p>"So." Peter clapped his hands together, forcefully wrenching his gaze from the pool to change the subject. "Where do you think Adrien is?"</p>
<p>"The only place you can be when you get in trouble during school hours," he turned and started heading up the stairs. "The principal's office."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Danny phased through another floor, then when he saw a Mad Mod bust that had what appeared to be a chainsaw coming out of its mouth, phased through another one.</p>
<p>Where was the principal's office?</p>
<p>He had figured, with the Titan's villain's ego, that he'd set up shop and put his real body there, but so far he hadn't been able to find it, or nothing labeled that way, anyway. What, was he supposed to just start going room to room?</p>
<p>The voice of Mad Mod came from behind him, nearly as smug as Vlad, and definitely as sadistic. "Now, what am I gonna do with you, duckie? Your superpowers are ruining my perfectly good school layout, here." He clicked his teeth, waggling a scolding finger as well. "Only one thing for it. Your troublemaking has been a persistent worry to this school." Penelope Spectra, in full ghost form rose from the floor. "I think it's time you spoke to our counselor about misbehaving."</p>
<p>"Hello, Phantom," she cooed, mockingly. "Did you miss me?"</p>
<p>"Like I miss Starfire's cooking," he shot back, fists glowing with charged ectoplasm. "Since when do you team up with non-ghosts, though? Why the sudden alliance with mister tea and crumpets?"</p>
<p>"He made me an offer I couldn't refuse." She said, making him pause.</p>
<p>It wasn't particularly odd for Spectra to say something like that, she was manipulative and loved playing with words, but there was something in her tone that didn't feel right.</p>
<p>Spectra dove at him, phasing them both through the floor into what looked like an art room of some kind. After receiving more than his daily allotment of ectoblasts to the everywhere, Danny decided to table the tone issue for another time and actually focus on the fight.</p>
<p>She blasted him through a wall.</p>
<p>"Okay, that's new," he muttered, deciding after that to table the fight, as well, bringing his phone out again and entering the groupchat.</p>
<p>Birdarang: Spectras got a big power buff whats the deal?</p>
<p>"Oh, I'll tell you what the deal is, little sprog." Mad Mod was right behind him. "The deal is, you go to school, you be a good little student, and. You. Get. Bent."</p>
<p>He turned around only barely in time to see Mad Mod's jeweled cane as it cracked against his head.</p>
<p>Spots, just for a moment, before he could feel the cool black of unconsciousness take him. Before he went under, though, a thought occurred:</p>
<p>That really didn't feel like a hologram.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. British Regimental (Part 2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Mad Mod is legitimately one of my favorite Titans villains. He's such a weird concept but it works, I love it,</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Something didn't feel right.</p>
<p>No, scratch that; everything didn't feel right.</p>
<p>It was funny, the first time Robin had fought against Mad Mod, nothing felt right either. All the walls were too close, all the things Mad Mod could do, so unnatural. His preparedness, the floor plan of the building, his intangibility, all of it was off. Now, when he was expecting everything to be off, it was all too perfect, and that almost unsettled him more.</p>
<p>Dick Grayson's actual school experience was limited, but the smell in the air, of cheap cleaning supplies, of chalk and pencil lead, all seemed real. Why would Mad Mod feel the need to fake that?</p>
<p>No. The only reasonable answer was that he wouldn't.</p>
<p>"Hey, Robin," Spiderman called, gesturing at a small stairway leading to a door. "Mad Mod's British, right? So he wouldn't call it the Principal's office." Robin walked over to read the lettering on the door, as Spiderman revealed the same thing it did. "He'd call it the Headmaster's office."</p>
<p>He reached toward the door, but Robin stopped him. "Wait."</p>
<p>"Think it's a trap?" He asked.</p>
<p>"Definitely," Robin confirmed. "I think I'm starting to figure this place out." He hummed, considering for a moment. "How do you feel about a plan that might get all of us captured?"</p>
<p>"Considering right now we're running off no plan, even that seems like a step up." Spiderman backed away from the door, turning to Robin once again. "What do we do?"</p>
<p>There was an expression none of the Avengers could make. It was the smallest smirk, not of smug superiority, but a confidence that the game was already over, ending in their favor. Checkmate in eight moves, the face seemed to say. None of the Avengers could make it, Peter couldn't make it, Adrien and Danny probably couldn't make it either.</p>
<p>But Robin could.</p>
<p>Robin did.</p>
<p>"How do you feel about picking up a few extracurriculars?" He asked.</p>
<p>Oh yeah. Definitely better with a plan.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The plan was going splendidly, Mad Mod thought. Two of the wayward students recaptured and back in class, his school counselor doing an excellent job at maintaining school spirit, and the scourge of cell phones had almost been eliminated from his domain.</p>
<p>Just a few more sprogs to squash, some reeducation to do, then he could prepare for a new batch of students.</p>
<p>If it weren't for that annoying voice in the back of his head, he'd have no complaints at all.</p>
<p>"Got another one," Spectra reported, dragging the unconscious form of Spiderman into the classroom. "Looks like he tripped up the trap in the Headmaster's Office."</p>
<p>"What a muppet." Mad Mod poked the red and blue suited superhero's head with his foot for a moment or two, before he was satisfied he was out cold. "His phone?"</p>
<p>Spectra grimaced, gesturing to his side, where a webbed bundle was stuck there. "Lizard saw him do that." She folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not touching it."</p>
<p>"You'll need to get your hands dirty if you want a future as an educator, love." Mod bent over, gingerly unsticking the webbing from the suit until he had a sticky clump in his hand. It took a few tries, but he managed to finally set it down on the table where the other two confiscated phones were already positioned. "Put him with the others and get him back in his chair." A sadistic smirk coated his face as Spectra phased through the floor with Spiderman to do as he asked. "Our final lesson's about to start."</p>
<p>"Check your schedule, Mad Mod." Robin kicked in the door. "Cause your lesson plan just got changed."</p>
<p>"You know, for a returning student, you're awfully slow." The jewel on his cane crackled with electricity, even as Spectra phased into the room and the Lizard rose from a crouch to flank menacingly at his sides. "Quick maths lesson: one plus one plus one is three, and that's bigger than one, love."</p>
<p>Robin's mouth quirked upward. "Why add when you can divide?" He drew a thin cylindrical detonator from his utility belt. "Divide and conquer." He triggered it.</p>
<p>There was only a small beeping noise as warning, from the package written off as Spiderman's phone, before the explosive disc wrapped up with one of Spiderman's web cartridges exploded.</p>
<p>As warnings went, it wasn't enough.</p>
<p>The room erupted in chaos.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There was a window of about fifteen seconds after being locked in his chair and Spectra phasing through the ceiling, Spiderman had to work with. It was a space of time he couldn't explain anything that was going on to Danny and Adrien, even locked right beside him in their own chairs as they were. He couldn't worry about Robin, or the circumstances they were in. He could only follow the plan.</p>
<p>"Karen, activate electric web." He shot it backward, short-circuiting the electromagnetic locks keeping him in the chair, before flipping back and smashing the locks around Danny's chair, disrupting the ghost shield around it that prevented him from transforming. "You're on Lizard duty," he said, quickly, pointing up at the ceiling where the Lizard's heavy footsteps could easily be heard.</p>
<p>Danny's face swept through a variety of confused and questioning expressions before shifting to one of resolve. "Croc's on me. Got it." Crouching into a ready stance for an instant as his transformation washed over him, Phantom flew up, phasing through the ceiling to confront his assigned foe.</p>
<p>Turning to Adrien, Spiderman asked, "Has Mad Mod seen your face yet?" As he set about destroying the bindings on his chair as well.</p>
<p>Adrien quirked a questioning eyebrow, but answered anyway. "No. Penny…" he shook his head, correcting himself, "Spectra brought me directly here. She said he was going to teach us all a lesson once we were rounded up again."</p>
<p>"Good." He went over to the door, opening it and withdrawing a duffel bag placed right in front of it, rummaging through it for a moment before he withdrew two items and handed them over.</p>
<p>Adrien looked down at the camembert in his hand, wonderingly, even as Plagg came out and began eating it. "Where did you get this?"</p>
<p>Spiderman went back to rummaging through the bag. "Your locker."</p>
<p>"Oh…" Adrien's eyes widened as realization struck. "Oh."</p>
<p>"Yep," Spiderman agreed. "You're on Spectra, okay?"</p>
<p>"Oh, please." He punched the air. "Plagg, Claws Out." Feeling the transformation surround him, the familiar leather replacing his admittedly comfortable pajamas, Chat Noir flashed a confident grin. "I couldn't imagine a more purrfect target." Spiderman gave a thumbs up, turning away, but Chat stopped him. "Wait, who's taking on Mad Mod?"</p>
<p>"Short term? Me and Robin," Spiderman answered. "Long term?" There was a horrific crashing sound coming from the floor above. "We're hoping Spectra and the Lizard get handled fast."</p>
<p>"Don't worry, mon ami." Chat patted him on the shoulder, reassuringly. "I think it's time Spectra learns why it's bad luck to cross paths with a black cat."</p>
<p>Chat and Spiderman went out in the hall, Peter's spidey-sense allowing him to dodge out of the way of an ectoblast that unfortunately Adrien could not. Checking to make sure he was alright, both superheroes then turned to see a particularly irate Spectra, covered head to toe in webbing. "I'll kill you, you little troglodytes," she shouted, eyes red with rage.</p>
<p>"Hey, mon ami…" Adrien began, looking a little pale.</p>
<p>"You got this, buddy," Spiderman started webslinging down the hall away from the rampaging poltergeist. "I believe in you," he called back far, far, away from that.</p>
<p>"Super," Chat muttered sarcastically. As Spectra tried to dive past him toward Spiderman, however, he caught her with his staff, knocking her back. "Sorry, Spectra, but you're gonna have to escape my claws first, if you want to chase after someone else. I can be very pawsessive when I want to be."</p>
<p>Spectra laughed, haughtily. "A spoiled rich kid with a single-use power? You'll have to excuse me if I'm not shaking in my boots." She stepped forward, both hands glowing with seething orbs of ectoplasm. "I've beaten you once already. I can do it again."</p>
<p>"Ah, but last time I was untransformed," Chat pointed out, moving forward, undeterred by her show of strength.</p>
<p>She shrugged. "So what?"</p>
<p>"Last time, I thought you were an innocent." One hand drifted to his back, where the second object Spiderman had handed him from the duffel bag rested, hooked through his belt.</p>
<p>Spectra frowned, for a moment. "And?"</p>
<p>"And." Chat smiled, quite fittingly like the cat who ate the canary as he drew the item and brought it to bear. "Last time I didn't have this." An ecto-infused rapier, from the fencing suit Danny had fought before.</p>
<p>Spectra's eyes widened. "Where did you get that?"</p>
<p>"Donation from the school." He closed the distance with a thrust. "En garde."</p>
<p>Though she batted the attack out of the way easily enough, it was abundantly clear to both of them that putting a ranged fighter like Spectra in close quarters with a strength-enhanced fencer was an abysmally poor matchup for her.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for her, Chat was also more than up to the challenge of preventing her from going intangible to reposition, the sword knocking her out of it before she could even phase fully.</p>
<p>"Fine, then," she spat, arms spread wide so her hands could crackle with enough electricity to make the lights start to flicker. "I've always wanted to see a French fry."</p>
<p>Chat gulped, but stood his ground. "Just relax," he whispered to himself. "It's just like fighting Akuma."</p>
<p>Spectra dove for him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Danny crashed through a wall, the latest in a long and worrisome line of walls he'd been thrown, blasted, or otherwise launched into. In this case, the launcher was the Lizard, one of Spiderman's enemies that had Danny gain a new appreciation for Peter Parker.</p>
<p>Mostly because, wow, that was a lot of teeth.</p>
<p>The good news was, cold-blooded reptiles really didn't like being shot with ice powers. The bad news was, they didn't like it so much their only response was to start launching the nearest available half-ghost into a wall. And the worse news was, the ice barely even seemed to be slowing the Lizard down, much less taking him down.</p>
<p>"Really wish I knew the plan right about now." He phased through the pile of rubble that used to be a wall, rubbing his aching head.</p>
<p>This smelled like one of Robin's plans, but what was he thinking? His ice barely slowed the Lizard down, his ectoblasts couldn't even touch him. His Ghostly Wail could probably do some damage, but odds were good he'd need to power down after using that and it might not even take the Lizard down. So why pit Danny against the Lizard instead of someone like Adrien, who was used to facing off against super strong, super tough opponents, or Peter who'd already faced him before? There had to be a reason…</p>
<p>Danny landed a solid right hook to the reptilian doctor's face, who was profoundly and predictably unmoved by the action.</p>
<p>He just had to figure out what that reason was.</p>
<p>"Note to self: punches also don't work," he commented, flying backward to avoid the Lizard's own punch that definitely would have worked much better.</p>
<p>It was the lack of strategy on the Lizard's part that was the most annoying to Danny. He'd phase through a wall, the Lizard would tear through it. He'd use ice, the Lizard would get madder. He'd use ectoblasts, the Lizard would get madder. He'd punch and whoop-de-doo the Lizard would just get madder. Flying was met with leaping. Aiming was met with thrashing. Talking was met with growling.</p>
<p>Really, it was like he wasn't even facing a person, just some beast mindlessly lashing out on instinct.</p>
<p>Wait, a second. Mindless? It couldn't be that easy, could it?</p>
<p>The Lizard towered over him, thin strands of saliva leaking from its enormous maw.</p>
<p>Danny slapped a hand to his forehead. "You've got to be kidding me."</p>
<p>The Lizard moved. Danny did, too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'm disappointed in you, Robin," Mad Mod lazily blocked Robin's staff strike with his cane, then the followup staff strike, then the kick, nearly yawning all the while. "Can't even beat an old gaffer two-on-one?"</p>
<p>"Are you supposed to be old?" Spiderman ducked under a cane swipe, trying to land a punch to Mad Mod's kidneys the supervillain was only too keen on dodging away from. "I really didn't get that memo."</p>
<p>"I've been taking my multivitamins, love." He jabbed an elbow into Spiderman's stomach, making him buckle before bashing him back with the cane. "Can't have the teacher's getting sick around the students, can we?"</p>
<p>"What about the students getting sick on the teachers?" Robin jumped backward, throwing a barrage of birdarangs that forced Mad Mod to dodge, giving Spiderman time to recover. "Because hearing you talk makes me want to throw up."</p>
<p>"Oi," Mod snarled, shaking his cane at the just out of reach Robin. "You'd better watch what you say around your betters."</p>
<p>"I'll let you know when I see one of my betters," Robin jabbed back.</p>
<p>"Always ready with the snappy retort." He raised his cane and the walls of the classroom bent and twisted, closing off all the exits like it was a living thing. "But I don't think you have any idea what's going on."</p>
<p>Spiderman leapt forward, but a pillar shot up from the ground, slamming into his chest and shooting him to the side.</p>
<p>"You lot haven't taken to my lessons one bit." Mad Mod stomped and the ground underneath Robin liquified then hardened, until only his top half was sticking out of the floor. "You're supposed to be quiet, good little students, and all you've done is make a ruckus, antagonize the teachers, and break school property." He stalked over to the downed and groaning Spiderman. "I've tried discipline." He kicked him in the ribs. "I've tried individual counseling." Again. "Even groupwork." A third time. "But you lot are still a thorn in my side."</p>
<p>Robin struggled against the immovable ground, but with his utility belt half separated from his hands half, the actions he could take were startlingly limited.</p>
<p>"You've forced me to use the final option I have at my disposal." He leaned down and lifted Spiderman up by the throat, parts of the floor giving way to a swirling red and blue vortex Mad Mod dangled him over. "Expulsion."</p>
<p>Spiderman groaned in response, whole body aching from the punishment it had received, and his vision still swimming from his head hitting the floor earlier.</p>
<p>Mad Mod smiled up at the arachnid-themed superhero. "You are dismissed."</p>
<p>He dropped him.</p>
<p>A flying black blur rocketed past Mad Mod where he stood, snagging Spiderman from the air and finally coming to a stop on the other edge of the vortex. "What's the matter?" Chat Noir asked. "Didn't think I'd cat-ch him?"</p>
<p>Mad Mod turned to the place he'd sealed the exit, witnessing the last of the wall as it crumpled away under Chat's destructive Cataclysm. "You stupid muppet," he laughed. "You used the one weapon you had against me just to save your little friend."</p>
<p>"Not my only weapon." He set Spiderman to the side, bringing his staff and rapier to bear.</p>
<p>"So the kitty has claws." Mad Mod twirled his cane in his hands, slowly walking toward him. Chat's ring beeped, causing Mod to add, "for another four minutes, at least."</p>
<p>"I only need four to beat you," Chat growled.</p>
<p>"Maybe," Mod acknowledged. "But I'm not the only one you need to beat." As if on cue, the lumbering form of the Lizard came into view, a massive shadow stretching across the floor from the hole in the wall Chat created. "You didn't really think your pathetic ghost friend could beat a monster like this, did you?" He taunted.</p>
<p>"Half-ghost," the Lizard corrected.</p>
<p>Mad Mod rolled his eyes. "Half-ghost," he amended. It took a moment. "Wait a tick." Before he turned around to see the Lizard's grinning face, eyes glowing bright green.</p>
<p>"Hey, Crumpets." The Lizard reared a fist back and smashed it into Mad Mod's face, sending him flying backwards into the far wall, glasses broken and nose bleeding. "And for the record, I've beaten plenty of monsters like this."</p>
<p>"And what about me?" Mod spat, dropping his broken glasses onto the ground and beginning to float in the air, arms spread wide as the entire building shook with the force he was emanating. "Do you even know what I am?"</p>
<p>"Of course we know." Robin winced as he managed to activate an exploding disc at an uncomfortably close range, loosening the ground he was trapped in enough for him to free himself, standing up shakily but leveling a steady finger at the floating madman. "We're in a building of logical but warped construction, meaning however you've altered it, you used a baseline for a real school. Case in point, there are some rooms like the art room and bathrooms that have few to none adjustments to them, which if you built the school from scratch wouldn't exist at all. You took great pains to remove Chat Noir from play despite him objectively being the lowest combat threat at that moment, which means he was a threat in a different way…" Robin gestured to the room around him. "Recognition, maybe? There were also details like the smells, and the fact the principal's office was called the Headmaster's, but all of that is just noise unless we could get a fix on where we really are." He reached into his utility belt and pulled out his phone, holding it up. "But then Phantom reported that he fought a living fencer's outfit, and wasn't that an odd thing to have in a school? Particularly one that, when I went back to retrieve the sword, had Adrien Agreste's name sewn into the inside. You might not know who that is, but I'm pretty sure that voice in your head does, seeing as his face is on every street corner in Paris. Because that's where we are, isn't it? We're in Paris, and you're an Akuma."</p>
<p>"That's so cute." Mod slow clapped, sarcastically. "But even if you did figure it out, that just means I'm bigger than you," the dust in the room began to swirl around him, coaxed by the power he wielded, "stronger than you," red lightning arced from his cane, burning spots on the ground and forcing the heroes to dodge, "and better than you."</p>
<p>"No." Robin strode forward, smirking. "It means you're in an enclosed room with four heroes, no backup, and a weak spot glowing bright red for us."</p>
<p>Mad Mod stared down at his cane, the gem on the end shining with the scarlet lightning it conjured. As realization of his situation struck him, his mouth became fixed open in silent horror.</p>
<p>"You know, he was a lot chattier a second ago," Spiderman commented, recovered enough from the previous fight to start webbing Mod's arms to his sides.</p>
<p>Chat leapt up the wall before kicking Mad Mod to the ground. "Yeah, Moddy, what's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"</p>
<p>Mad Mod grimaced, breaking the webbing to raise his cane again, only for the Danny-possessed Lizard to backhand the cane out of his grip and across the room. "Fights over, Crumpets," Danny said, reaching down and lifting him up by the collar. "So go to school, be a good little student," Robin caught the cane, snapping it in half over his knee as Danny finished, "and get bent." With a final shove, Mad Mod smacked into the wall, groaning as he fell unconscious.</p>
<p>With the little black butterfly exiting the cane, dragging Mad Mod's powers with it, the building began to buckle and shake. Danny shuddered, too, an action made a bit disturbing coming from the Lizard's body. "Okay, well that explains Spectra. Mad Mod must've been juicing the two of them up with Akuma power."</p>
<p>"Juicing himself most of all," Chat commented, watching as Mad Mod's face shifted, wrinkling and sagging as they watched, hair going grey, then white.</p>
<p>Light began filtering through windows, where before there was only an eclipsing darkness, and the four superheroes looked out as the building began to settle to its usual shape, the city of Paris laid before it.</p>
<p>"Chat, we've got Ladybug incoming," Spiderman warned, noting the beeping of Chat's ring indicating just under a minute of transformation left.</p>
<p>"Here." Robin pressed a domino mask into his hands. At Chat's questioning expression, he tapped his utility belt. "I always keep a spare."</p>
<p>Chat reversed his transformation, hurriedly putting on the domino mask to try and protect his identity from his partner. After a moment's consideration, Robin took a hefty dollop of hair gel from one of his many pouches and slicked Adrien's hair back in a manner the blonde was more than a little sure his father would be horrified by.</p>
<p>Then again, his father wasn't there, so Adrien allowed Robin to restyle his hair into something unrecognizable.</p>
<p>As Ladybug came in, purified the Akuma, and used Lucky Charm to reverse all the damage and combat injuries, the expressions on each of the faces of the Black Tux Gang could only have been described as ecstatic, an expression thankfully no one needed to see Danny as the Lizard wear, since Doctor Connors was whisked back to New York where he could return to being a human with a slightly concerning several hour gap in his memories of what he'd done that day. Spectra was returned to the Ghost Zone, and the still unconscious Mad Mod was clapped in a pair of foldable handcuffs that was just the latest item Robin pulled out of his utility belt.</p>
<p>"I gotta say, when you guys were raving about how great Lucky Charm is? Totally undersold it, that was incredible," Danny commented, feeling not just all his wounds, particularly the dull headache he'd been feeling ever since Mad Mod knocked him out with the cane, get reversed, but also all his energy return, like the fight had never even happened.</p>
<p>With that done, Ladybug looked around, eyebrow raised when her gaze landed on Adrien. "Chat?"</p>
<p>He gave an exaggerated bow, but a genuine smile. "My lady. It's been too long."</p>
<p>"It's only been a couple weeks," she answered, rolling her eyes with faux exasperation. "But I missed you, too, Chat."</p>
<p>"So, understanding French still isn't one of my ghost powers," Danny shrugged, helplessly, the foreign exchange passing entirely over his head thanks to the language barrier.</p>
<p>Ladybug was just about to try English with the batch of American superheroes that had somehow landed in her school, but Robin cut in with some well practiced, if slightly accented French of his own, thanking her for the help and giving a vague but knowing assurance that they'd likely be 'seeing each other again soon,' before her earrings beeped and the quintet of heroes with supervillain in tow, quickly departed the empty school.</p>
<p>It was only a few blocks down the road, after Peter had changed into civilian clothes, that he felt in his pocket, realizing his phone had been returned, dry and unbroken.</p>
<p>The Parisian residents at that street corner then bore witness to an America loudly proclaiming to the sky that 'Lucky Charm was the best,' followed by a series of fist pumps and various other proclamations of happiness.</p>
<p>A few people might have been bothered by the outburst, except, who could argue with his assessment?</p>
<p>Everyone in Paris already knew Lucky Charm was the best.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Bowtie</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Last chapter! In BTG, at least, but I'm hoping to expand on things a bit more in other ways. If'n you're interested, I'll probably catch you again, there.<br/>(I uploaded three chapters at once, so if you're coming in cause you saw it updated, make sure to check those out, too)</p>
<p>(Name guide again, just in case)<br/>Catastrophe - Adrien<br/>SassRobin - Robin<br/>Birdarang - Danny<br/>ChatsReplacement - Peter</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Catastrophe: Sound off. Who's not dead?</p>
<p>Birdarang: I abstain</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: was not putting money on chloe letting me leave paris alive</p>
<p>SassRobin: @Birdarang you left some of your stuff at Titans Tower. Starfire boxed it up, so we're gonna ship it over to you.</p>
<p>Birdarang: Thats gonna be a fun conversation with the mailman</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Why wouldn't Chloe let you leave alive?</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: at first i think she saw me and marinette getting along and wanted to break that up but then i think she heard about something that happened with another classmate of yours and wanted to find out how i did it</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Which classmate?</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: i think her name was milah? or lilah? i dunno we didnt talk for long</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Ah, Lila Rossi, I'm guessing. Yeah, Chloe's had a few run-ins with her in the past. What happened?</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: probably better to do that in dms hang on</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: there we go</p>
<p>Catastrophe: SHE DID WHAT?</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: yeah so probably wont be counting on her to keep my secret identity safe anytime soon</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: upside is i think chloe and i are friends now because of it</p>
<p>Birdarang: Well niw im curious</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: which brings my number of rich friends up to four if i count mister stark</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: beating out my record two years ago of… none</p>
<p>Birdarang: Superheroism is a hell of a drug</p>
<p>Catastrophe: Superheroes: not even once.</p>
<p>SassRobin: Winners don't wear capes.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: ROBIN MADE A JOKE AGAIN</p>
<p>SassRobin changed name to AnotherGothamClown</p>
<p>AnotherGothamClown: Wanna see a magic trick?</p>
<p>AnotherGothamClown: I can make this whole groupchat disappear.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: ill be good</p>
<p>Birdarang: I wont</p>
<p>Catastrophe: @AnotherGothamClown What's the status on the Mad Mod thing?</p>
<p>AnotherGothamClown: He's back in Jump City custody now. Apparently he was on a prison transport being extradited to France, but any records of the extradition request or the crimes he was supposed to have committed in the first place have been scrubbed from Interpol records. Pair that with the newspaper found in his cell that had us busting Mumbo on the front page, and it seems like a targeted attack.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: wait so does that mean the btg has its own supervillain?</p>
<p>AnotherGothamClown: Or one or more of our own supervillains has decided it'd be more to their gain to target us four instead of our more usual configurations.</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: is that gonna be an issue?</p>
<p>AnotherGothamClown: Given the amount of time I figure this took to pull off, I doubt they can repeat the feat anytime soon. Longterm, though, I can't be sure. I'll be looking into it.</p>
<p>Birdarang: I mean considerinf the amount of supervillains we all deal with on a daily basis adding one more probably wont be that bad</p>
<p>Catastrophe: I guess we'll claws that bridge when we come to it.</p>
<p>Birdarang: Ugh</p>
<p>ChatsReplacement: that was awful</p>
<p>AnotherGothamClown: So getting kicked.</p>
<p>Catastrophe: :3</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kagami watched Adrien smile down at his phone as she passed him a water bottle, settling down on the bench beside him with both their fencing helmets temporarily set off to the side. After a minute or two of watching the disappointingly average other students spar with one another, she gestured to the phone. "Marinette?" She guessed.</p>
<p>"Hmm?" Adrien looked up, before registering the question. "Ah, no. These are some friends I made recently, actually. American."</p>
<p>"Have I said yet how annoying it is that I spent the whole break training while you traipsed about in America, yet we still fight to the draw more often than not?" Kagami posed, a tiny bit of good-natured irritation leaking through.</p>
<p>Adrien laughed, scratching the back of his head. "You might have mentioned it a few times, yeah. I met these guys before break, though, for the record."</p>
<p>"Oh, the reason for your sudden interest, then?" She asked. Adrien hadn't made any mention of leaving the country for the break until only a few weeks beforehand, and with the way his father liked to plan every aspect of his life, the suddenness of it all was notable for him.</p>
<p>He gave an inscrutable smile. "Something like that."</p>
<p>Kagami rolled his eyes the same way she always did when he was being deliberately mysterious. "While we're on the subject, I don't think I've asked yet, how was your stay in America?"</p>
<p>Adrien beamed, opening his mouth to say-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I spent the break with the Teen Titans, Jazz. It's impossible for it not to have been amazing." Danny opened the fridge, looking for orange juice and patently ignoring the stores of questionable materials within, both of an experimental nature and that which had once been food. "Never thought we'd have that in common with Titans Tower," he muttered to himself.</p>
<p>Jazz hummed, her pencil scratching away at a piece of paper despite her laptop being right beside her. "Who's your favorite?" She asked after a moment.</p>
<p>Danny finally secured the orange juice, pouring it into a glass and joining her at the table. "Who's my favorite what?"</p>
<p>"Your favorite Titan," she clarified. "It was Raven before, wasn't it? How does that stack up with meeting them all in person?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, it was Raven. I always thought being able to walk through walls and fly would be so cool." He phased a hand through the table. "Funny how that worked out," he noted, idly. "But now?" His orange juice emptied in a long sip as he considered. "I don't know. I'm not sure I can rank them that way anymore. I mean, it's one thing to see them in videos and think one of them is better, but it's different actually living and fighting with them."</p>
<p>"So, in other words, it's still Raven," Jazz guessed, flatly.</p>
<p>"It's definitely still Raven, yeah," he admitted, sheepishly. "I mean, did you know she has healing powers? How sick is that?"</p>
<p>"Never change, little brother," she sighed, fondly, shaking her head.</p>
<p>"Never plan to." He quirked an eyebrow at the paper she was still writing on. "What are you doing, anyway?"</p>
<p>"Working on my thesis." She scratched out another line in neat, legible, script. "I finally found someone who can provide some insight on superhero psychology."</p>
<p>Danny raised an eyebrow. "Aren't thesis' supposed to be for people finishing college?" He asked. "Scratch that. Aren't thesis' supposed to be for people attending college?"</p>
<p>"It's never too early to start," she asserted, confidently.</p>
<p>Yeah, that's about how he thought that conversation would go.</p>
<p>"Wait, so you're doing a thesis on superhero psychology and you're talking to some randy instead of the one that lives in your house?"</p>
<p>Jazz started counting off on her fingers. "One, you're not a psychologist, two, I wouldn't be able to cite you in any sources, and three, you might corrupt the data since I know you personally." She returned to writing. "Also, I kind of doubt you'd sit still for the number of questions I'd need to ask you, even if you knew the answers."</p>
<p>He shrugged. "Fair enough." He leaned over to look at the paper. "Are you actually writing a letter? Who's your psychology expert, George Washington?"</p>
<p>"Not everyone has access to a computer, Danny," she chided, moving the paper to the side so he couldn't read it. "Besides, this gives me a chance to practice my handwriting. Maybe you should take up letter writing, too."</p>
<p>The face he made was clear enough. "Pass. I get enough schoolwork at school, Jazz. I don't need to be adding more."</p>
<p>She gave a half shrug. "Suit yourself."</p>
<p>"Still," he looked over at her, still steadily writing. "Whoever your expert is has to be super old if he doesn't even have a computer."</p>
<p>"Not old, just," she hesitated for a moment, her pencil scratching to a stop before she resumed. "Restricted."</p>
<p>Danny's eyebrows furrowed. "Jazz, who exactly is this expert?"</p>
<p>Jazz looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Well, her name is-"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Chat Noir," Peter explained as he finished soldering on the last piece of his newest Stark Labs project. "That's the superhero you saw earlier."</p>
<p>"The one who apparently shops at the same leather stores Natasha does?" Pepper was looking through emails and reports on her tablet instead of facing him, but if anyone could multitask in a conversation it was her.</p>
<p>"I'm pretty sure his costume is actually made with magic, but yeah that's the one." Okay, now it wasn't turning on.</p>
<p>"Well he was very nice," Pepper noted. "If a bit young to be working as a hero, in my opinion."</p>
<p>"He's a year older than me," Peter rolled his eyes, checking the wires on his contraption.</p>
<p>"And you already know I think you're too young," she huffed, genially.</p>
<p>"You think Mister Stark's too young to be a hero," he lightly accused.</p>
<p>Pepper shrugged. "On a team with a World War Two hero, an immortal god, and whatever Natasha's deal is, Tony's an absolute babyface on the Avengers team," she pointed out. "Not like he needs to pilot the suit every time, anyway," she grumbled to herself, but Peter still managed to hear it.</p>
<p>"Mister Stark says that remote piloting the suit has too much of a delay." He also said it wasn't as fun that way, but that seemed more a point against his maturity than for it, so Peter left that out.</p>
<p>"I'll be sure to mention that the next time I see him get treated for concussions and laser wounds because making new suits every ten days is easier than designing something with a shorter delay." Pepper was always… less than enthusiastic about the whole superhero thing, for him and Tony, but she was also rarely wrong. The general compromise was that they'd take as many precautions as they reasonably could to do it safely, and she wouldn't say 'I told you so,' every time they got injured.</p>
<p>Also, she was the one orchestrating many of those precautions they used, but that was neither here nor there.</p>
<p>"He's a French superhero, right? The one you swapped places with?" She changed the subject, since they both knew Peter didn't have a counter to what she'd said.</p>
<p>"Yep. I swapped with him and Robin swapped with Phantom. It was a nice change of pace, but I don't think I could cover him full time." Peter plugged his project into his computer to start looking through the code to see if the problem was there, chatting on all the while. "Even if I didn't like New York so much, fighting Akumas just wears me out. I'd take regular street criminals any day."</p>
<p>"It makes sense that fighting supervillain equivalents every few days would be more exhausting than a bunch of regular thugs. Still, it must've been nice to practice your French for a while. I didn't even know you spoke it," she admitted.</p>
<p>Peter was still looking through code. "Oh, I don't know any French, actually."</p>
<p>Pepper set her tablet to the side, which really should have been his first clue. "Peter, out of curiosity, was this swap a one time thing, or are you ever considering doing it again?"</p>
<p>"Mostly one time, but there's probably gonna be a situation at some point where he needs someone to cover for him, and I'm a bit more free than the others, so I can see it happening again." He shrugged. "Besides, Chloe's already been texting me about what we're going to do the next time I'm in town. I get the feeling she doesn't have a lot of friends, which-"</p>
<p>"Peter?" She cut him off, her glasses already removed so she could rub the bridge of her nose where they normally rested. "You're not going to do superhero work in France if you don't know French." She picked up her tablet again, replacing her glasses and continuing before he could protest. "I'll start teaching you next week, so you'd better have that thing at a stopping point by then, because I don't like your attention being split when I'm trying to teach you something." At Peter's affirmative, she paused for a moment again. "What is that you're working with, on the subject?"</p>
<p>Peter lifted it up, finally having cleaned up the issue with the code and pressed the button to turn it on. "It's a-"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>&gt;&lt;</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"List of guests," Dick Grayson explained, as he double checked his research against the list, scratching out one name after some deliberation and replacing it with another.</p>
<p>Alfred was dusting in the massive Wayne Mansion library and, not for the first time, Dick wondered how everything stayed so clean with only one man doing the work to keep it that way, particularly with all the other work the old butler did. "Guests, Master Dick?"</p>
<p>"That's right. Some old school friends, some friends of the family, and some special guests who've never met me at all." He made another adjustment to the list.</p>
<p>"I'd imagine they'd be surprised to get the invitation," Alfred said, featherduster flicking to and fro down the library shelves.</p>
<p>"I'm hoping they're surprised and curious. Not everyone so easily accepts an invite from someone they don't even know." He set the list aside with some frustration. As it stood now, the whole thing reeked of a setup, and half the special guests would bail for that reason alone.</p>
<p>Alfred hummed, not weighing in on either side for a moment before speaking again. "If I may ask, Master Dick, why the sudden interest in gathering these 'special guests'? Is there a problem you don't think your current team can handle?"</p>
<p>"No, even if there were a problem too big for the Titans, this wouldn't be how I went about fixing it. This is just…" he hesitated, searching for the words, "a little support for some heroes that might need it."</p>
<p>"How altruistic," Alfred noted. "But I do worry you might be spreading yourself a bit thin."</p>
<p>"Oh, don't worry about that." He picked up his phone, noting all the unread messages that had already begun to stack up. "This is for them. I've got more than my hands full dealing with the groupchats I'm already on."</p>
<p>IHateMondays: @FriendRobin Dood how long are you gonna be in Gotham for? It's been like forever</p>
<p>QuothMe: It's only been a few weeks, Beast Boy. Relax.</p>
<p>CyberMonday: grass stain's got a point though. why the gotham pitstop after amity instead of coming straight here?</p>
<p>KoryInTheHouse: I am sure friend Robin has his own reasons for doing so. Still, I hope to see him again soon.</p>
<p>FriendRobin: It's alright, guys. I've almost got this all worked out, and then I'm heading straight to you.</p>
<p>KoryInTheHouse: Joyous news!</p>
<p>IHateMondays: What are you even working on?</p>
<p>FriendRobin: Nothing much.</p>
<p>FriendRobin: Just plans for my next birthday party.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you so much for reading, and if that ending wasn't clear enough, the sequel's gonna be in the works soon, which is something I'm putting to you guys.</p>
<p>I've been tossing around ideas like Kim Possible, Trollhunters, and Carmen Sandiego, for the next one, but I'm really curious: what do you think? Is there a fandom you'd really like to see, or maybe one you don't want to see? Go ahead and let me know, I'll be trying to take that into account.</p>
<p>Until then, though. Hope you enjoyed, and have a good one.<br/>-Dealer</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>